Legend: Book 2: The Hut on Chicken's Legs
by Herr Wozzeck
Summary: The second book of Legend. In the midst of the complete destruction of a nation, Ike will deal with a supernatural phenomenon the likes of which he has never seen before...
1. Chapter 1: Appearance of the Firebird

Screw it. I can barely contain my excitement.

So from now on, I'm writing this side-by-side with Paranoia. And now, I'll go ahead and present, the mish-mash of Slavic mythology that is...

The second book of Legend. Here you go.

* * *

Chapter 1: Appearance of the Firebird

The boat of green light sailed towards a shore made of sand in the middle of the night, and the bump against sand was enough to wake everybody up.

Ike had rolled onto the floor from his bed from the impact, and Maria soon joined him there.

Willie, who had been tossing and turning in his bed all night without actually going to bed, was up like a bolt of lightning.

"'Ey, I dink we're dere!" said the Cockney boy, efficiently waking everybody else up fully as Bonnie chirped merrily on the bedpost.

"Thanks for the wake up call..." said Gaston, rubbing his eyes as he sat up in his bed. "Oh, Goddess..."

"Ugh..." moaned Fiordiligi, rubbing her head and working her hands through her hair to get some of the golden locks out of her face.

"I think we should get out of here," said Maria as she stood up. "We're here, at any rate."

"And I don't think this coast looks familiar at all..." said Ike, quickly standing up with his sapphire orbs looking right outside of the vehicle of light.

"We should not linger," said Kuranga quickly, stepping off of his bed quickly. "Let us stand on this new land."

"Now that's a good idea," replied the mercenary, quickly making his way out of the hull of the ship and out into the outside world, the rest of his friends following him closely as he jumped over the edge of the small boat. His feet landed in water with a splash, and everybody else that followed him jumped in with similar precision. When everybody had jumped out of the boat, it suddenly de-materialized into nothing.

"Well, that's it," said Gaston, shaking his black wings in the night air to get them active again. "No turning back."

"Nope," said Maria. "I wonder. What is sitting around here anyways?"

"Maybe it is a land where there are mystical creature beyond the imagination," said Fiordiligi. "Rusalkas, dragons bereginya, who knows?"

"Mystical creatures?" asked Ike as his feet walked onto the shore to find a long beach with a group of four trees close to where they were. "Those are the mystical creatures of your homeland?"

"Of course," said the lady. "Why would I not know them?"

Maria's ears detected something, however, and her gaze darted away.

"What was that?" asked Maria.

"You heard something?" asked Kuranga.

"I thought I did..." replied the cat laguz.

"Probably nothing," said Gaston. "We only did just land here after all..."

"Still, you never can be too sure," replied the mercenary, stabbing Ragnell into the ground beneath them as he walked right next to one of the trees.

Willie suddenly saw something behind where the group was, but it was only a faint glimmer, and he shrugged before turning his attention back to the group.

"I wonder what else they could have here..." said Kuranga quickly.

"Well, knowing the transition to Greljedo, they might just have laguz and beorc here again," said Ike.

Maria laughed at this joke, smiling as she faced the rest of the group.

"All we're saying is that we need to be prepared for anything, right?" asked Gaston.

"Of course," replied Fiordiligi, holding her healing staff close to her as she spoke. "But still, the thought of seeing mystical creatures is quite... dreamy, I suppose."

At this point, Willie saw the familiar flicker in the distance, but noticed that it got closer to them again.

"'Ey, wet's dat?" asked Willie, pointing at a flickering light in the distance as it drew closer to them.

When everybody turned to look, they saw a rather strange bird flying by with feathers lit by some mystical force that surrounded it. The bird trilled pleasantly, but it veered away from the group of trees that Ike and his group were very close to when it got close enough for Ike to make out a clean plumage of orange feathers lit by a very mystical source.

After they saw this, they paused to marvel at what they had just seen. They then turned their eyes to the four trees behind them to find that there were golden apples on the branches of the trees behind them.

"What was that thing?" asked Ike.

"I am not sure..." replied Fiordiligi. "But that was one very beautiful bird."

"You think we should try to find out what it is?" asked Maria.

"As in, capture it?" asked Gaston, cringing a little at the cat laguz' suggestion. "No offense, but I'd be pretty pissed off if you tried to catch me."

"I see good in the horizon of doing it, however," replied Kuranga. "Let us do that for now, and we shall use Willie as a bargaining tool."

"Wait, me as one ef dem 'bergenin' tools'?" asked Willie, eyes flaring in anger. "Wet d'ye dink I am, eh? You dink I kin be trod upon? Eh? Eh?"

"That's not what I meant..." replied the dragon laguz, shaking his head sternly. "Because you are the only person here that can talk to birds. And because more good of it if we free it under certain conditions."

"Oh," said the Cockney boy quickly, calming down almost as suddenly as he had gotten angry. "I kin be like dat, I dink..."

"Quick!" whispered Fiordiligi as the light came in from the distance. "Behind the trees!"

The group quickly huddled into the small space between the trees with the golden apples, and then the shiny light approached. When the bird came closer, they noticed that the bird's tail feathers formed a sort of flame with red feathers, the light gleaming off of it almost to give the impression of a tail made of flames.

"Is that a fire on its tail?" asked Maria in a whisper.

"Oh, now I remember..." said Fiordiligi, smiling broadly. "This is a firebird!"

"A firebird?" asked Ike.

"You've seen it for yourself," said Gaston in reply. "I don't think you need to ask."

The bird frolicked around in the air for a little bit, and then, it approached one of the trees that Ike and the group was standing behind. A soft snap pierced the otherwise quiet night air. As the firebird flew away from the tree, they saw one of the golden apples laying in its beak.

"Okay," said Ike as the bird came flying close to the trees again. "You guys stay here. I'm going to tackle this thing!"

When the bird came back around to the trees, everybody nodded slowly, and Ike was gone in a flash. Next thing everybody knew, the mercenary was on the ground, pinning the firebird to the ground as it resisted with all of its might. Ike had a solid hold on its wings, but he still had to exhert himself since the bird flailed endlessly. The mercenary gritted his teeth as Willie suddenly joined Ike in his struggle, also pinning down the bird's wings so as to hold it in place. The two of them together were still having a hard time holding the firebird down in its struggles, but with time, the bird began to pant heavily, its resistance slowly ebbing away. And then, after some more efforts from the two people, the firebird stopped resisting against their hold, and Willie could see its eyes gaze up at the two of them in sadness.

The rest of the group came out from behind the trees shortly afterwards, and then the bird trilled sadly as they emerged from behind the trees.

Bonnie, who had lurked in the branches of one of the trees with the golden apples the entire time, came out and flew to Willie's shoulder, chirping swiftly and cheerfully.

In response, the firebird trilled sadly, its black, beady eyes still portraying a great amount of sadness as it made its sounds.

Bonnie was silent for a second before her chirping resumed. The linnet bird was not as energetic in this chirping, though.

The firebird's eyes suddenly lit up, and then it trilled again, expectation filling its eyes.

"Yep I kin, Governor," replied Willie. "Are yeh a 'e, or a she?"

The firebird's eyes dimmed, and then it chirped flatly.

"Oh, well, okey den Governor," replied the Cockney boy as he held the firebird's wing in place. "Wadye want ver us teh free yeh?"

The firebird went on to ensue in this long series of chirps and trills that Willie tried his best to keep up with, nodding every so often as the firebird came to a break in its indiscernible tale. When the firebird finished chirping, all eyes were on Willie, expecting something to come out of his mouth.

"Well?" asked Gaston. "What did he say?"

"'E said somevin' like dis," began Willie. "'E says dat if we let 'im go, 'e'll give us one ef dem feavers 'ere."

"And what good's a feather?" asked Ike, only to be rebuked by a harsh chirp from the firebird.

"'E say dat if ye 'old dis feaver up, 'e'll come teh us," replied Willie. "Meybe 'elp us out a bit."

"He will follow up on that promise..." said Kuranga quickly. "I can sense it."

"Well, then I guess we'll let it go then," said Maria. "What do the rest of you say?"

"Of course," said Fiordiligi. "Ike, Willie, you may let him go any time now."

The two of them nodded quickly, and then, Willie let go of one wing while Ike let go of the other.

The firebird pranced around on the ground a little, enjoying its newfound freedom. However, it abruptly stopped and turned around to pluck one of its red tail feathers off of itself. It then held the feather up to Ike's hand, trilling beckoningly. Ike daintly took the feather, and nodded to the firebird once.

"Thanks," he said.

The firebird then took to the air, and it flew away, the myserious light dissapearing along with it. There was a profound silence on most of the group before Ike finally stood back up on his feet, holding the feather. It gave a pulse of light which caused him to cover his eyes with his hand, and when it died he walked over to Ragnell and pulled it out of the ground. When Ragnell rested on Ike's shoulder, he stuffed the firebird's feather into his chestguard.

"So, Fiordiligi, would you mind telling us how you knew about that?" asked Maria.

"A man in Jericho sold me a book of a person's adventures on a strange continent," replied the lady. "There were all of these mystical creatures there in that book. The firebird was one of those creatures!"

"Well, if you could tell us what that firebird was, you can certainly tell us what the others are," said Ike flatly. "From now on, you're in charge of identifying mystical creatures."

"W-what?" asked Fiordiligi, blushing madly in the darkness of the night. "B-but I never said I wanted to do it!"

"I don't know, Fiordiligi," replied Maria playfully. "But hey, you called it, you get the job."

"All right, all right," replied the lady. "I shall do it."

"Okey den," said Willie quickly.

"Let's get some rest," said Ike, sitting down against one of the trees with the golden apples. "Then we'll figure out where to go from here."

"Now that's an idea I can agree too," added the cat laguz with a yawn as she too sat down close to the trees with the golden apples and curled up into a ball on the ground. "Goddess, that was tiring..."

"I agree..." said Fiordiligi, also sitting down close to where the trees with the golden apples were.

Willie wordlessly snuggled close to the tree, and Gaston and Kuranga both laid down afterwards, sleep taking over all six of them as they lay on the soft earth.


	2. Chapter 2: A Higher Calling

Well, when I said I would do something, I did exactly the opposite. Sorry about that.

And since not a whole lot of people know too much about Slavic mythology, I'll be giving background on each individual tidbit as we go through the story.

So, the main arc that takes hold of the story is taken after the Stravinsky ballet based on several myths of the Firebird. What happens there is this; a guy by the name of Ivan is hunting for a firebird and catches it; however, the firebird offers it one of its feathers, and it promises to come to Ivan's aid with a wave of it. He accepts, and releases it. It's essentially very similar to the events of the last chapter, so I probably just went through a lot of filler. Most of these could be filler, actually, but hey, knowing the references helps, right?

In any event though, I am glad to bring you this startling development. So here we are, with the next chapter of Legend. Enjoy!

* * *

**_Ike and company have washed up onto a strange new land, one that Fiordiligi immediately notices is filled with at least one fantastic creature._**

**_With the feather of the firebird as their token, the group heads towards what appears to be a costal village. Upon arriving, however, they notice something strange about the inhabitants of this village..._**

Chapter 2: A Higher Calling

Ike walked up to another door, his knuckles banging against the wood of another door as the group stood in front of a door.

"Leave us alone!" shouted the people inside of the house that the door guarded. "We don't want to be disturbed!"

"Look, we are most certainly not here to disturb you!" replied Fiordiligi loudly. "This is the fifth door we've tried, and nobody has answered any of our previous knocks!"

"Go away, foul demons!" shouted the people inside even louder. "We don't want you taking our girls with you!"

Ike shrugged, turning away from the door and walking forwards.

The group had arrived in the village just minutes ago; however, they had found that nobody wanted them in it. Every door they had knocked on was recieved with a call of 'leave us alone' or 'go away' or some other diminishing remark. This was strange to everybody.

The group congregated towards a series of marketstalls that reeked heavily of fish, Maria taking the liberty to sit on one of those stalls.

"You know, I just don't get it," she said, shaking her head. "What's going on here?"

"I den't no, mu'um," replied Willie. "It's like dere be somevin' 'ere dat we den't no novin' about..."

"That must be it," added Kuranga, nodding in agreement as he too sat down, scarlet orbs looking towards the rest of the group. "I sense an evil energy radiating from somewhere within this village, but the strange thing is that there are no traces of it lying within the villagers."

"What's going on here?" asked Gaston, also sitting down.

"I'd like to know that too," said Ike, sapphire eyes taking on a bitter expression as he spoke. "Only nobody will tell us what's going on!"

"It must be awfully serious if they will not let a group of total strangers into their homes..." said Fiordiligi, a concerned expression riding on her face as she spoke. "I wonder what is going on here..."

There was a brief silence as everybody thought, and then Maria's eyes fell upon a strange figure knocking on one of the doors just ahead of them. The figure was that of a female, but there was a strange blue light emanating from her being that discolored the area around her to a bizarre aquamarine.

"Hey, who's that?" asked Maria, pointing at the figure. The said figure did not even flinch as she knocked on a door quietly.

"Hm..." said Fiordiligi, emerals squinting into light jade as she looked at the figure. "Blue glow, maiden, makes everything look like water..."

The lady at the doorway left a soft plea, but by the time the residents answered Fiordiligi knew what it was.

"A rusalka," she replied. "Be prepared, everyone. This one is going to be very pesky."

"But why?" asked Ike, still keeping Ragnell shouldered even though Fiordiligi took out her staff and Willie held his hands out in front of him.

"All right then," said the figure with a suddenly booming voice that violated the skies of the late afternoon. "You leave me no choice."

And then, she stood up, the area glowing with an eerie blue light as the spirit held a hand up and summoned a jet of water from it that broke the door down. The lady abruptly pointed at the ground, and then the jet of water returned with a little girl on its wake.

"Well, that answers our question," said Gaston, running forwards and immediately transforming.

Maria followed suit, shifting into her cat form and rushing at the water spirit as it smirked triumphantly.

However, its smirk was instantly wiped off of its face when a fully transformed Gaston suddenly flew in there, the girl suddenly appearing in the raven's talons as he flew around. It had no time to reply, however, for then Maria dashed at the spirit, causing it to quickly teleport to another area of the village. Ike readied Ragnell, Kuranga and Fiordiligi standing still as Willie pulled out his fire tome. Fiordiligi noticed this, and looked at Willie sternly.

"Willie, this is a water spirit!" she reprimanded quickly as the rusalka sprayed water at Gaston, who deftly dodged it by rolling once in the air. "Fire will have no effect on her at all!"

"But Viordilegi...!" replied Willie.

"Insolent fools!" shouted the rusalka before Willie could say anything else. "You shall pay with your lives."

"We'll see about that!" shouted Ike, rushing at the rusalka and slashing at her just as she teleported away to another part of the village.

As Maria lunged at the rusalka, Willie suddenly looked at Kuranga, who stood there untransformed.

"'Ey!" shouted the Cockney boy. "Wy ain't you not lookin' like a dragon, m?"

"There are too many risks," replied the laguz as Maria successfully dealt a scratch to the water spirit.

The cat laguz went in for another dash when suddenly the rusalka sent out a jet of water at the cat laguz, sending poor Maria flying through the walls of a house before landing there. Noticing this, Fiordiligi ran forwards only to have the rusalka teleport right in front of her.

The lady stopped her charge, a terrified expression forming on her features as the spirit smirked, extending its arm out to Fiordiligi and holding her captive.

"Very well," she said. "This one will do."

But the rusalka failed to notice that Ike was creeping up behind her. Thus, before she could do anything else, she felt an excruciating pain on her backside, and then her body formed into thousands of pieces of shattered glass as the mercenary held Ragnell high in the air. There was a profound silence as suddenly people came out of their homes. Gaston, who had been hovering in the air keeping the little girl safe, landed, tossing the girl briefly as he shifted back into his human state, catching her in his arms and placing her on her feet.

"There you go," said Gaston as the little girl nodded and ran over to her mother, who had just emerged from her house.

Maria, who had shifted back into her human state and had walked out of the rubble caused by her crashing into the side of the building, walked out, rubbing her bruised body a little as she joined Ike's side. Fiordiligi stood up from where the rusalka had carelessly dropped her in her dying agony, brushing the dust off of her dress as the other three men in the group joined their side.

The villagers congregated around them in amazement. Finally, however, they made way for a short old man who approached them, coughing a little as he stood in front of the mercenary.

"How... how did you do that?" asked the old man.

"Do what?" asked Maria. "We just did what we normally do best, you know?"

"Our best men have been washed to and fro by her magic..." replied the old man. "I have had no other options to do but to turn this town into a ghost town for all who enter. And yet, you six strangers have purged us of this problem."

"Dat's free fer yeh," corrected Willie. "Free ef us didn't really do novin', Governor."

"Free?" asked the old man inquisitively.

"He meant to say 'three'," said Fiordiligi quickly. "His accent is quite funny like that. Also quite charming in its own quirky way, actually."

"Aw, yeh didn't need teh say novin'!" said Willie bashfully, his cheeks rapidly taking up a bright red in embarrasment.

"Right..." said Ike, his stern expression remaining constant. "Anyways, this thing's been bothering you for a while?"

"Two weeks," replied the old man. "Two weeks of having all of our young women kidnapped by that awful monstrosity. I even had to request aid from this here kingdom."

"Kingdom?" asked Kuranga, curiosity gracing everybody's expression. "So this village is part of a kingdom..."

"What do you expect?" asked the old man quickly. "Every village on this continent is part of a kingdom of some sort..."

"So you requested the aid and had everybody hide in their houses until they came?" asked Ike, shouldering his blade as he sent an inquisitive glance at most of the villagers. "How do you know the kingdom did not overlook this as being their destination?"

"They have not even arrived yet," replied the old man. "The last I heard of them was that they would be arriving in two days."

"Oh," said Fiordiligi. "So until then you kept strangers out of the village?"

"Essentially, yes," replied the old man. "But then you six came and purged us of this problem."

"Yes, but it was only three of us and I almost got kidnapped in the process," said Fiordiligi, a light touch of bitterness invading her voice.

"Nevertheless, you saved us," said the old man. "And as the village elder, I give you this deal; stay with us until the kingdom's agents arrive. From what I have heard, the entire continent is having this problem of young maidens being stolen away by strange spirits."

"Really?" asked Ike. "So this problem isn't exclusive to this place..."

"I see..." said Gaston as he nodded. "Well then. I guess we'll take that offer."

"Then help yourselves to my house," said the village elder.

"Oh, no, Governor," replied Willie, waving his hands in front of him in denial. "Not yer 'ouse!"

"Why not?" asked the elder. "There is plenty of room in my humble abode for an entire legion!"

"Well, if you say so..." said Maria, Willie's concerns echoing in everybody's mind as the crowd dispersed, each individual person going up to the group of six and congratulating them on ridding them of their problems on the trek to the elder's house.

* * *

A trumpet call stifled the quiet morning air, effectively waking Ike from his slumber. He groaned as he sat up in his bed, bare chest gleaming in the light of the breaking day as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Oh dear..." he said to himself out loud. "Looks like they're here..."

Maria, who slept in a bed not far from where Ike was, yawned as she sat up. When she finished this motion, she perked up suddenly, jumping right out of the bed.

"Well, then, we better get going then!" said Maria. "Everybody will be expecting us!"

The two of them quickly changed and ran out of the house. When they stepped outside of the house, they already found the village elder and the rest of their posse in front of a line where a rather tall knight in blue armor stood next to a wyvern. A bunch of soldiers stood behind him, walking behind him in a sort of militairistic march towards the elder. Ike and Maria ran next to Willie and Fiordiligi, Gaston sending the two of them a dirty glare with Kuranga not seeming to care as the knight approached them. When he came forwards, he drove the butt of his large lance into the ground, cold, hard cerulean orbs looking at them with an almost aloof expression.

"You requested our aid, sir?" asked the knight simply.

"Well, yes," replied the village elder. "But we have no more need of you."

"Something happened, then," replied the knight sternly. "What happened. Did you get hit with a miracle of some kind?"

"Yes, we did, actually," replied the old man, a smile gracing his lips. "These six strangers came in and defeated that pesky spirit for us."

"Ah, so you did?" asked the knight, turning to face Ike and the group.

"One of us almost got kidnapped, but we did it," replied the mercenary sternly. "The elder said you had this problem throughout the entire continent?"

"And why would we request the help of total strangers to help do our work for us?" asked the knight quickly, a dubius expression coming to his face.

"Well, we did what's right," said Maria. "And we did it mostly because we knew that it was the right thing to do."

"And because nobody was--"

Fiordiligi's sentence was interrupted with a quick, almost indiscernible slap to the wrist from Maria.

"And how do you expect us to do this with people dressed like animals?" asked the knight, sending a gaze at Maria and Gaston.

"Hey!" shouted the raven laguz. "Don't you make fun of us, you hear?"

"At any rate, you do look odd in those costumes," replied the knight, stepping forwards and walking towards Maria. "Off with the ears, lady."

"What?" asked the cat laguz angrily, getting offended as the knight tried to pull at her ears. "Damn it, let me go! These ears are real, and so is my tail!"

At a particularly hard yank of the ears, Maria was so agitated she punched the poor knight away, almost instantly transforming into her cat form. As the knight sat back up after rubbing his head with his hand, he saw the cat ready to pounce on him at any second, lavender fur standing on end as she growled. The men that had stood behind the man's wyvern suddenly came out from behind the dragon, weapons at the ready.

"Look," said Ike, kneeling down to the knight's level and leaving a shoulder there. "They can't get out of that 'costume', so to speak. Do you have a problem with that?"

The man just gazed in front of him, cerulean eyes widened in terror.

"I've never seen one of those things..." he said quickly.

"What?" asked Fiordiligi, stepping back a little as Maria shifted back into her human state, the malevolent glare still resting on her lavender eyes.

"Yeh mean yeh ain't never seen one ef dem laguz peoples?" asked Willie loudly.

"Laguz...?" asked the knight, now just confused at what was going on.

Ike sighed, chest heaving visibly as he held a hand out to the knight.

"We'll explain later," replied Ike. "Just, trust us for now."

The knight looked at Ike incredulously, and then he took the mercenary's hand. Ike stood up, taking the confused knight up with him.

"All right," said the knight. "But please understand we take a matter such as this very seriously. Soldiers! Lower your weapons!"

"All right then," said Ike as the rest of his group congregated back around him and the soldiers laid down their weapons. "Now, what exactly is the problem here?"

"We have had a large problem throughout the continent," replied the knight. "Reports have been that maidens have dissapeared at a fairly quick rate throughout the continent. Reports say that strange spirits have been appearing to people and stealing away their maidens in the middle of th night."

"So, same thing as what happened here, right?" asked Fiordiligi. "Is it just villagers, or...?"

"Worse," replied the knight. "Royalty has been subjected to this kidnapping spree as well. Our very own princess was kidnapped a week ago."

"And other than the fact that it's because of some spirits or whatever, you have no idea as to what's going on?" asked Maria, ears twitching in the aftermath of what the knight had tried to do to her.

"Exactly," he replied tersely. "We have tried everything we can to figure out what is going on. We could use all the help we could get?"

"Well, Governor, yeh got real lucky today, yeh 'ave," replied Willie. "Keranga 'ere kin read dem 'owras' oh 'owever yeh say it."

"Owras?" asked the knight. "What might that be?"

Everybody gave the knight a blank espression before Kuranga cleared his throat.

"He meant 'auras'," he said. "His accent is strange like that."

"Oh," replied the knight, nodding quickly. "That will certainly come in handy."

"And I guess the only question left is whether we will actually help you or not, yes?" asked Fiordiligi.

"Of course," said the knight quickly.

"All right," said Ike. "We'll do it."

"And you better not try anything funny on Maria or me!" added Gaston vehemently, pointing a finger at him accusatorily. "Or you'll be hearing from whatever gods you believe in about it!"

"Gaston, please," said Maria, gently lowering the hand. "So we'll do it."

"Thank you," said the knight, nodding with a smile gracing his lips. "Tell me; what are your names?"

"I'm Ike," replied the mercenary. "My friends here are Maria, Fiordiligi, Willie, Gaston, and Kuranga." With each name, he indicated who it was with a finger.

The knight then knelt on the ground, taking the lance that had flown from his hand back into his grasp and nodding.

"Cormag of the knights of Frelia, at your service," he replied solemnly.

* * *

The troupe marched far away from the village, Ike and the rest of his friends marching by Cormag's side as they pressed ever closer to the castle of Frelia. Ike had been telling the wyvern knight stories about their escapades on Greljedo, and Cormag took every detail in quite nicely.

"So then you went over to the island and defeated Myriel?" asked the wyvern knight.

"At least, his father did," replied Fiordiligi. "I wonder whether he got over his son's death or not..."

"And you fought Ilemyr, yes?" asked Cormag. "That must have been pretty tough."

"It was pretty epic, actually," said Maria. "So you never had any laguz on the face of this continent?"

"No," said Cormag. "I thought you were just wearing stuff to be funny."

"That's wierd," said Ike, shrugging quickly. "I never thought I would go anywhere where the only laguz on the continent are the ones standing right next to me."

"At any rate, we are almost there," said Cormag quickly, spying castle walls ahead of him.

"Good," said Kuranga. "So, who is this man, king 'Innes'?"

"He's a good man," said Cormag, nodding sincerely. "A good man, but he's a little too proud of himself for comfort."

"Oh der..." said Willie. "Dat ain't gonna be no good, Governor..."

"I serve under orders of princess Tana, though," said Cormag. "She's bubbly."

"And she's the one that got kidnapped by these spirits, you say?" asked Maria.

"Yes," said the knight. "She convinced me to join after the War of the Stones."

"War of the Stones?" asked the mercenary. "I don't think you told us about that."

"I'll tell you more about it later," replied Cormag. "But for now, we're here."

And indeed, the group came upon a rather large castle town with the huge gates of Frelia's castle looming ahead. The sheer majesty of the grey stones against the humble little town seemed to phaze the group for a second, but they merely nodded after a while and looked at Cormag.

"Nothing much, but it is still quite a castle," commented Fiordiligi.

"Yeah, it is nothing much actually," said Cormag snidely. "I would know that much from traveling the entire continent a few times."

Willie snickered at this comment briefly before they marched towards the castle of Frelia.

* * *

The throne room was rather large. Very fine tapestries hung from the walls around the throne room, an occasional statue occupying a space that would have oherwise been vacant. Regal red carpeting lead to the throne room, and the view of the ocean from the window behind the castle was astounding. On the throne itself stood a rather lean man, silver hairs tumbling down the sides of his neck as he looked at the group with battle-hardened jade eyes. Cormag knelt in front of the throne room, Ike and his friends standing just a little behind him.

The wyvern knight stood up after greeting the king of Frelia, and the man stood up.

"Thank you, sir Cormag," said Innes cooly. "So, according to reports, you came in and saved that town. Am I right in this?"

"Yes, your majesty," said Fiordiligi, bowing down to the king she barely knew.

"Oh, please, do not start with the formalities," said Innes scornfully. "I have to deal with that enough in court proceedings; I do not need more of it with people that saved a village..."

"Oh!" said Fiordiligi, quickly standing up and covering her mouth. "I'm sorry, sir."

"So anyways, you said there was a problem?" asked Ike.

"Yes," replied the king of Frelia. "I trust Cormag has told you about it."

"'E 'as, Governor," said Willie.

The king sent a confused glance at the Cockney boy before he shrugged and turned to Ike.

"So, I trust you know about the spirits, then?" asked Innes.

"Actually, that's not me who knows about that stuff," said Ike. "That's stuff that Fiordiligi knows about."

"That is correct, sir," added the lady quite calmly.

"Oh," said Innes, nodding as he began to pace in front of the throne. "I see then. That will help the entire continent out very much."

"The entire continent..." said Maria. "We haven't been told much about the War of the Stones yet; I take it the entire continent is under some peace treaty now?"

"Essentially, yes," replied the king. "So I'll alert the other rulers of your presence."

"And you'll send us somewhere else to help the other nations, I take it," said Gaston.

"Yes," replied the king. "Our neighbor, Renais. That is where you will be heading next."

"Renais?" asked Kuranga. "A nation you have been allies with since the beginning, yes?"

"Definitely," replied Innes, nodding curtly. "As of now, the problem in Frelia is slowly diminishing. However, the problems are intensifying in Renais, and I am sure that they could use all of the help they could get."

"Yeah, but I don't see how intruding in the affairs of another nation helps solve the problem," said Gaston assertively.

"Gaston, calm down!" retorted Maria. "Maybe Renais asked for the help."

"That is correct," said Innes. "So, will you head to Renais and see if you can uncover anything about this menace?"

"Of course," said Ike, bowing down in front of the king.

"I thank you for your understanding," replied the king, nodding as a smile graced his lips. "Cormag here will accompany you on your journeys."

"Yes, milord," said the knight quickly.

"When'll we be leaving, then?" asked Maria.

"At once," said Innes. "I shall reward you finely for this."

"Keep your hands on your reward," said Ike. "I don't think we'll be finding much use for it. Besides, we're doing this because it's what's right."

"Ah, very well then," said Innes, frowning slightly at how blunt Ike's statement was. "If anything happens, let me know, and I will follow you with everything I have here. May the graces of Latona be with you..."

Cormag bowed quickly and walked out of the castle, Ike following shortly as he and the group left the castle on a new mission that would affect another continent.


	3. Chapter 3: The Twins of Renais

And here I am again, with the next part of this epic saga here.

Now, there was another Slavic spirit last we were here. That would be a rusalka. A rusalka (in the original Slavic pantheon) is a water spirit that takes on a female form, usually being considered evil by the storytellers.It was considered to be nonviolent for the most part, usually sitting on top of trees and singing away. A rusalka is often said to also be an undead maiden that stays close to whatever body of water she drowned in, and that during a week in early June she can pull swimmers into the bottom of the river and drown them. I reworked a lot of things about rusalkas in the Legend universe, including that they can wander farther from their body of water than just the tree right by the water and that they're appropriately much more aggressive.

And yes, this is taking place in the Sacred Stones world now. Normally, I would go on and on about what Magvel is like, but since most of you have most likely played Sacred Stones already, I'll spare you the details and just get right to the meat of the plot and what happened in the five years between Sacred Stones and Legend. But the main premise is that this is five years after the events of Sacred Stones, and I've taken up some of the A endings as well (Tana/Cormag's A support ending is currently the most obvious since Cormag wouldn't be in the knights of Frelia for any other reason, but there will be more, I'll tell you that much.)

So that's really all I can talk about here. Here's the chapter, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**_Since Ike and the group defeated the rusalka that was terrorizing the village, hey have gotten very lucky in knowing where they have washed up on._**

**_It turns out they have washed up on the continent of Magvel, which is divided into five countries and one uninhabited territory. A large war on the continent known as the War of the Stones took place just five years before Ike arrived on the continent, and according to what he has been told he devises what happened between the war and his arrival could be summed up thusly;_**

**_Landlocked Renais has prospered ever since its reconstruction ended by the benevolence of the twins of Renais, Ephraim and Eirika. The kingdom was still basking in the glory of the marriage between Ephraim and princess L'arachel of Rausten when the spirits began to invade the continent, but with Ephraim's esteemed military knowledge, he has managed to wage the war against the spirits without very many problems. He is slowly beginning to become overwhelmed, however, and he has asked every country on Magvel to help in whatever way they can._**

**_The desert nation of Jehanna rejoiced in the birth of the son of King Joshua and Queen Natasha shortly before the spirits arrived. Thankfully, Jehanna's sands are deceptively harmful, and thanks to the dangerous environment of the desert, the spirits have not been a problem. Joshua's campaign to help Renais has been met with little success, however_**

**_To the north of Jehanna, the nation of Rausten remains boiled in turmoil despite the best efforts of the Divine Emperor Mansel. The naming of a new successor to the throne of Rausten remains a problem the people want resolved quickly, but the thick concentration of spirits is a growing problem within its borders. With all of its internal problems, Rausten remains the only nation that has not done anything to help Renais._**

**_Carcino has prospered as a merchant nation since the years after the war, but as the problems with the spirits grew more and more dire, the nation has suffered a little. It is also encountering many problems with the spirits itself, but this problem is slowly backing away, almost as if Renais was leeching spirits from the mercantile nation._**

**_Frelia has fared the best out of all of the nations with the spirits. However, the rare spirit attacks always happen scattered around the country, supposedly by the same spirit. Ike took this spirit out of commission, however, so Frelia now shifts its attentions to helping its neighbors out of the problem._**

**_The empire of Grado on the south side of the continent was wiped off of the map of Magvel just after the War of the Stones. They were the defeated nation in the War of the Stones, and as the leaders of all of the other nations came together to decide what to do about the empire and how to relegate its leadership, word of a terrible natural disaster that spread the length of the entire empire reached their ears. As a result of the disaster, Grado is now a no-man's-land, and the few people that have entered the nation since the disaster have never been heard from again._**

**_With this knowledge in mind, Ike makes his way towards Renais, very eager to meet the monarchs of Renais and hoping that he gets just as warm a reception as he is sure Cormag will..._**

Chapter 3: The Twins of Renais

Ike, Cormag, and the rest of the group walked down a rather bumpy dirt road, Ike and Cormag glancing at each other as they walked along the many potholes in the road. Maria and Gaston trailed just behind Ike, with Kuranga, Willie, and Fiordiligi all walking behind the two laguz.

"Have they cared to fix the road?" asked Ike.

"This is strange..." said Cormag as his foot fell into yet another pothole. "I guess Ephraim is so diligent about combating the problem with the spirits that he's hardly had any time for fixing the roads..."

"Well, that's a good thing," said Maria as they walked forwards. "I mean, at least he thinks more about the safety of his people than anything else, right?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," said Cormag, pulling his wyvern along the path rather easily. "Renais was the nation hit the hardest by the War of the Stones."

"It does seem like that," said Gaston. "So first a war, and now this?"

"But they did have five years to rebuild," said Ike. "So they must have sorted everything out well."

"They actually did have everything sorted out before these spirits came..." replied the wyvern knight in a disgruntled manner.

"Well, hopefully nothing bad will happen on the way there..." said Fiordiligi from behind them as they walked into a small wood that was in between two mountains.

Suddenly, the group heard a fantastic singing penetrating the woods. It was the most beautiful singing that anybody had heard in their life, and suddenly, the men around Maria and Fiordiligi stopped in their tracks, the song seemingly making them stand fixed in one spot. As Maria bumped into Ike, she rubbed her head, hand running through lavender strands of hair as Fiordiligi held out a hand to her. When they stood up, Maria sent a confused glance at Fiordiligi, the lady frowning as she looked ahead of her.

"That's the song of a vila..." said the lady softly. "It is so beautiful men cannot resist it. And if she wants men, it's men she will recieve at the end of the day."

"Wait, you mean she lures them into the woods and makes them lust--?" asked Maria, before her question was interrupted by Fiordiligi slamming her hand on her mouth.

"Quiet!" snarled the lady softly. "If you bring that up, they'll attack! And when they attack, we are in very bad hands. So I suggest you not mention anything about it until they have what they want."

"Ugh..." said Maria, sticking her tounge out and giving a completely grossed out expression as she slowly noticed some of the men in the army around her suddenly shook their heads as if they had been knocked out of their trance by some strange force.

Willie was the first of the group to be released from this trance, followed by Kuranga, Cormag, and Ike.

"Wet 'appened, mu'um?" asked Willie.

"It's a vila," replied Maria. "Ask Fiordiligi later."

And then, Gaston, who was still entranced by the vila's song, began to walk forward, his back hunched and his black wings poking Maria in the leg as he lurched forward slowly. Maria had to rub her eyes to make sure she was not seeing things. When she saw Gaston walking forwards, she frowned the most genuinely angry frown she could muster.

"Okay, that does it!" exclaimed the cat laguz angrily, amethyst eyes narrowed in rage. "I am not going to let some forest spirit take my friend like that!"

"But Maria, you cannot--!" said Fiordiligi briefly before Maria slapped her hard in the hand.

"I don't care about their nature!" replied Maria with a slight snarl in her voice. "I am not going to let Gaston go in there unless he's safe!"

And with that, the cat laguz marched into the wood after Gaston. Fiordiligi tried to walk up to her, but Willie left a hand on her shoulder that caused the lady to pause and turn to the Cockney boy.

"Let 'er go, mu'um," said Willie insightfully. "I den't dink yeh kin do anyvin' abut dat..."

The lady shook her head as she saw Maria retreat into the woods.

Meanwhile, the cat laguz took to hiding behind trees while Gaston lurched forwards, drool seeming to come out of his mouth as he advanced. Even though she was legitimately angry at whatever forest spirits were in there for charming her friend, she knew caution was the best way to deal with a scenario like this.

And then, she saw a beautiful lady with her back against a tree, staring at Gaston almost seductively as he came forward and stood before her. As she sang her song, the raven stood up straight, admiring the very slim body before him, the amber eyes staring at him with a luscious glow about them and her chocolate hair radiating with the light of a goddess. As soon as the raven was in front of her, she stopped singing and looked at him lustfully

"Hello, handsome," said the lady, grabbing Gaston's chin delicately with her fingers. "What nice wings you've got there..."

"The better to fly with, my goddess..." mumbled Gaston. It barely escaped detection from the vila's ears, but Maria's ears heard it very well.

The vila chuckled almost seductively as she twirled around Gaston, sizing up the man she had siezed with her song.

However, as she circled Gaston, she noticed out of the corner of her eye the figure of Maria standing from behind her cover. The cat laguz' hands were curled into fists, her face absolutely filled with rage and her left eye visibly twitching as she watched the display.

The vila merely smirked, walking around Gaston while still holding his chin to face the girl.

"Oh, and what are you doing here?" she asked, the deep seductive rumble of her voice irritating Maria to no end.

"I don't like you answering questions like that!" exclaimed Maria angrily. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to have my friend back from your clutches before you kill him brutally with something you have hidden in that tree over there!"

"Kill?" asked the lady as she circled around Gaston once, her hips seductively swaying as she walked. "I can kill, but at a time like this it is not in the nature of one such as myself to kill. Merely, I ask for favors..."

Since the forest spirit was now in front of Gaston, her hands trailed down to the area of his waist, clutching at the material of his pants and driving it down so that the raven's buttocks were exposed to the cat laguz. Maria nearly exploded with rage at the sight, and she sent a glare at the vila as she stood petrified to the spot in her anger.

"Oh, you wouldn't dare!" said Maria.

"Oh, and who is he to you, your lover?" asked the vila craftily.

Maria's expression suddenly blanched considerably, all of the rage that had been boiling in her head up to that point suddenly leaving her with an embarrased expression on her face.

"W-what?" asked Maria, so flustered she was still petrified to the spot where she stood. "T-that's not true! H-h-he's my f-friend!"

"Then why do you care so much?" asked the vila, once again circling the raven laguz. "Is he a 'special' friend?"

"He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember!" shouted Maria angrily. "Now let him go!"

"But it is a simple favor," replied the vila as she hooked one of her legs with one of Gaston's. "That is all. Now, if you will excuse me, I am busy."

"I'm not leaving until you promise to keep him unharmed!" said Maria as the vila turned so her back was facing her.

There was a tense silence as the cat laguz' anger ever so slowly rose. The vila turned to her slowly, her fingers still grasping Gaston's chin as she edged forwards to Maria.

"I will tell you what..." she said. "If you promise to get out of this immediate area, I will assure you he will leave unharmed and with no memory of this incident whatsoever. If you choose not to leave, I will do what you say I will do, right before your very eyes..."

"But that does not say any--!"

"Do not interrupt a vila when she is talking, my dear..." replied the forest spirit. "Also, if you allow me to do what I want to do with him, whenever I want to, then I will do anything you tell me to do."

"Whenever?" asked Maria, grimacing slightly at the disturbing images that came to her mind shortly afterwards.

"I appear at all sorts of different places," said the vila, edging so close to the cat laguz that their bodies were touching. "So do we have a deal or not?"

Maria was about to brashly open her mouth in her anger when her eyes caught a look at Gaston. As one of the vila's fingernails suddenly shot out of her finger and moved directly to the raven's throat, she suddenly lost all of her temper. She spent a while thinking about the consequences of this decision, knowing that whatever path she chose, she would regret her decision greatly. On the one hand, there would be the knowledge of knowing that she could have saved her friend's life with one word. And on the other hand, there was causing a great rift in their friendship that could never be healed if he found out that she did that.

As she stood there, she came to the realization that Fiordiligi had been right in trying to keep her back there. Maybe then, she would not have been forced to make such a terrible decision.

After a while of thinking, she opened her mouth to say what she knew she would regret for the rest of her life.

"You have a deal..." she said almost reluctantly.

The vila edged away from Maria, the fingernail retracting into her finger as she brought her lips as close to Gaston's as possible without them actually touching.

"I am glad you have accepted my offer," said the vila. "Now, do as you promised."

The cat laguz turned around solemnly, heaving a hefty sigh as she left the vila to her business. She did not dare to look back at what she was sure would be a repulsive act, instead leaving the area with her shoulders drooping slightly.

The group stood along the dirt road, starting up suddenly when Maria came out of the woods, clearly showing signs of agitation.

Ike, Fiordiligi, and Kuranga were the first people by her side, Ike draping an arm around her shoulder.

"Maria, what's the matter?" asked Ike, immediately noticing something was wrong.

"I'm fine," said the cat laguz, returning to staring straight at the floor.

"You're not fine," replied Fiordiligi. "She made you make an impossible decision, didn't she?"

Maria sighed a pretty hefty sigh, turning to face them.

"I had to leave them alone for Gaston to come back here alive," said Maria. "Please promise you won't tell him!"

"This is a very grave thing to hide from a man about to be lured into a seduction," said Kuranga thoughtfully. "And I can see no good coming from this decision. But if you say it was to save his life, I shall."

"I won't tell him," said Ike, walking back towards their army with Maria behind him. "That's a promise."

"I will not tell either," added Fiordiligi.

"Thank you, guys," said Maria, an imperceptible smile gracing her lips. "You're the best."

Ike nodded, patting Maria's shoulder with his left hand as Cormag and Willie sent confused glances at each other and shrugged.

* * *

Much later in the journey, Gaston had rejoined the group and they were back on their way. Surprisingly, Maria found that he had no real recollection of the events that had happened concerning the vila, and so Maria was greatly relieved to hear of this. With this new development, they continue walking through the woods.

They walked in silence essentially the rest of the way there, the silence being very uncomfortable on Maria's part as she was still just a little bit afraid of anybody bringing up the vila. She sweated a very icy sweat for a fairly long time, Ike being sympathetic and remaining quiet.

Finally, however, Cormag smiled, elbowing Ike in the ribs carefully.

"I can see it up ahead," said the wyvern knight. "There it is. Castle Renais."

And as they slowly made their way out of the wood, they saw before them a magnificent castle, the stone essentially the same gray of the stones of Castle Frelia. However, this castle was considerably larger in size, and it stood in a somewhat more attractive spot for a castle.

"Wow..." said Gaston, eyes wide in wonder. "Look at that thing over there!"

"It be real big, Governor!" exclaimed Willie in wonder.

"Seriously..." added Maria. "So, a lot of people are in here?"

"Quite a few guards and knights, if you must know," said Cormag solemnly as they walked towards the gate. As they came out of the wood, a group of guards suddenly noticed their presence and walked up to them, their aquamarine armor glinting in the sunlight as they came up to Cormag.

"State your business!" one of them said directly. "Now!"

"Tell Eirika and Ephraim that the reinforcements from Frelia have arrived, as promised from king Innes himself," said Cormag, his wyvern snorting amusedly at how uptight the guard seemed to be.

Upon the wyvern knight's sentence, the guard simply nodded.

"Ah, the reinforcements, eh?" asked the guard. "I have been given special instructions to direct you to their majesties themselves. Follow me, please."

The two guards turned around, and then Ike found himself walking after them, Cormag quickly taking a detour to secure his wyvern next to a tree. As soon as he had done this, he ran back to where Ike was.

"So is it always this formal?" asked Ike.

"Not really..." replied Cormag. "You'd be surprised at how quickly you'll warm up to them. I think Ephraim especially would like you guys."

"Relly, governor?" asked Willie. "I den't no 'bout dat. Dere was dis one guy dat said bad things to me, 'e did..."

"But that was Myriel, Willie," replied Fiordiligi, shaking her head visibly. "If what Cormag says is correct, the royalty of Renais is nothing like that."

"You will be right, Fiordiligi," said Kuranga simply. "You will be right."

Maria said nothing, and then the large wooden doors to the palace of Renais creaked open to allow the group entry.

* * *

The group travelled down a short hallway before they arrived in Renais' throne room. The throne room itself was rather wide, two flags bearing the emblem of Renais hanging on poles that themselves stood on pillars on opposite ends of the room. At the other end of the room sat three thrones, one right under a fess that hung off of the wall with two thrones beside it. In the center throne sat what was obviously the king of Renais, green eyes seemingly cutting the atmosphere with an air of authority that was not seen in any of his other features. To his right sat what obviously must have been his sister, her eyes gazing at them with a kindness that was found in the rest of her features as well. To the king's left sat what must have been his wife, for she sat almost haughtily on her throne, her face giving off an intense glee that seemed to be without source.

Cormag walked towards the throne, Ike and his group following his every move as they were unsure of how to address royalty in this new land. When the wyvern knight bowed, everybody else bowed as well. And when he stood up, they stood up too.

"A pleasure to see you, Cormag," said the lady to the kings' right. "And you must be sir Ike, I take it?"

"Yes, madam," said Ike, noticing her eyes on his and nodding his head.

"Oh, do away with the formalities at once," replied the king. "Just 'Ephraim, Eirika, and L'arachel' will do. So I take it you are that troupe that Frelia has told us about. I take it you've had quite a bit of battle experience?"

"Yes, actually," said Ike. "I used to run a mercenary company before I started adventuring through the world."

"Ah," said the lady who was apparently Eirika as she nodded quickly.

"I expected something more for some reason..." said L'arachel. "But no matter. I think we'll be able to purge those blasted spirits just fine no matter what!"

"They also told me something... unusual... about some of the people in your troupe," added Ephraim quickly, leaning forward in the throne before he stood up. "What might that be?"

Gaston shook his head and shifted into his raven form. Upon doing that, he promptly flew up to the cieling of the throne room and perched on one of the poles holding up the emblem. He shifted back into his human form, here he sat on the pole as if nothing had happened.

"There's your answer," said Gaston somewhat rudely. "Any other questions you have about us before we brand you bad people for all eternity?"

"Uh, no..." said L'arachel quickly. "But how can ones such as you do that?"

"It's in our blood," replied Maria. "We transform into stuff because that's what we've been doing. Or am I already explaining the obvious?"

"Be careful, Maria," said Kuranga, walking forward and placing a hand on the cat laguz' shoulder. "I can see that there have been no laguz on this continent in all of its history."

L'arachel looked at the dragon laguz with quite a bit of confusion, the glee suddenly vanishing from her golden eyes as it was replaced with a strange fascination.

"Can you read auras?" asked the queen.

"Of course," said Kuranga. "Why do you ask?"

"That's it!" exclaimed the queen, standing up and smiling broadly. "You people must have been sent by saint Latona herself!"

"Latona?" asked Fiordiligi, suddenly quite confounded by the queen's flamboyant behavior. "Who might that be?"

"The great saint Latona, of course!" exclaimed L'arachel quite loudly. "The founder of my home, of course! And one of the people who sealed that cursed Demon King away several hundred years ago!"

"Oh," said Willie, shaking his head at how loud the queen was. "Kin yeh keep it down? Me ears ain't good wit no screamin' or yellin', mu'um."

"What did he say?" said L'arachel in reply.

Fiordiligi cursed to herself before she crossed her arms.

"He says that yelling is not the slightest bit good for his ears," said the lady. "And therefore, he asked you to keep it down.

"Oh," said the queen, sitting back down with all of her enthusiasm quelled. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't worry about it," said Gaston as he flapped his black wings. He got enough lift to get himself off of the pole holding one of the banners up. He eventually floated back down to ground level next to Maria.

"So, is there anything else that is needed here?" asked Ike.

"Oh, yes," said Ephraim quickly. "Your first mission. There is a very dangerous group of spirits south of this castle that are presenting a real danger to those villages in the area. Your assignment is to go down there and purge that village of its spirits. I am sending you on one of the more dangerous assignments."

"Dangerous?" asked Ike. "Sounds like a plan to me. Is anybody else going with us?"

"I will be going with you," said Eirika.

"W-what?" asked Fiordiligi, quite shocked at this. "But it is quite unbecoming for one of your stature!"

"Look who's talking," replied Maria, looking straight at the lady as she said this. "You were running around with us dodging boulders and avoiding demons and all of that stuff. If you can lower yourself to that level, I'm pretty sure she can too."

"Well, somebody has to check your skills," said Ephraim. "And worry not about her, either. Her personal guard will be with her."

"Personal guard?" asked Ike. "That's a little cowardly, isn't it?"

"How dare you suggest such a thing!" replied Eirika indignantly. "I do not let him do as much 'guarding' as many people would like him to. I am perfectly capable of defending myself, sir Ike!"

"Oh," said Ike, nodding quickly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," said Ephraim. "Anyways, that is your mission, and you will be leaving for that tomorrow. If you can defeat that faction of spirits, then our problems here can be solved by the knights that linger here."

"And then we can help Rausten, right?" asked L'arachel eagerly.

"Yes, we'll finally be able to help Rausten," replied Ephraim.

"Is that all?" asked Cormag.

"Yes," said Ephraim, standing up from his throne slowly. "Allow us to escort you to your rooms, sirs."

"Sure," said Ike as Eirika and L'arachel both stood up in turn.

Ephraim then stepped away from the throne in a particular direction, Ike and the troupe following along as he escorted them to their quarters.


	4. Chapter 4: Leads

And, once again, I'm back. And this is the last update before I head off to Boston for the school year. I can hardly wait to get there!

Anyways, more mythology comes to mind; that of the vila, of course. The vila are very similar to the Greek sirens, except they just cause guys to forget all thoughts of food for a few days and of course they don't have wings. Of course, in Legend, they've now had a seductive side added to them, and this really leads to trouble later.

And, more facts about Russian mythology: it says in the thing that Jehanna has no spirits because its sands are deadly. Real reason? The only desert in Russia is Siberia, but it's a desert of tundra, not of sand. So therefore, there's no Jehanna-ish environment at all in Russia, and so, there are no desert spirits. Rest assured, though, Jehanna does eventually get its role to play, so look out for that.

Anyways, that's enough from me. Here's the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy! :D

* * *

**_Ike and the group were introduced to king Ephraim and queen Eirika rather quickly for comfort, but when they set out promptly the next day, Ike figured out why everything seemed so rushed._**

**_Joining the group in this little mission is Eirika herself, accompanied by her loyal guard, Seth. They lead the way, Ike following their every footstep dilligently._**

**_As they get closer to the border of what used to be the former nation of Grado, they slowly see signs of the devastation of entire villages at the hands of what is apparently the spirits. This strengthens Ike's resolve, and so he decides the spirits must be defeated at all costs._**

**_They camped outside of one such village for one night, not expecting anything unusual to happen that night..._**

Chapter 4: Leads

Ike stood up just beyond where the campfire was in relation to his tent. He was still fully clothed, headband flowing back in the light night-time breeze as Ragnell sat there buried as he watched the night before him.

He had been posted to keep watch of the area for the night, along with Seth, who was busy patrolling the area around the camp. Sometimes, he would linger around Eirika's tent for a while before returning back to examining the area, and Ike simply nodded whenever he walked away.

The mercenary had been standing there, keeping watch over the camp for quite a few minutes when Seth came walking back to the fire, auburn hair seemingly glowing in the light of the fire and his lance at the ready.

"Anything over there?" asked Ike simply.

"Not a soul," replied Seth, sticking the butt of his lance into the ground as he spoke. "This is a pretty nice night, yes?"

"Yes," replied Ike with a nod.

"I do worry about the queen in this kind of environment..." said Seth, chestnut eyes gleaming in the glow of the fire as they welled up with some degree of worry.

"I wouldn't worry about her," replied Ike, walking towards Ragnell and pulling it out of the earth. "Her sword arm is pretty decent, actually. She surprised me a couple of times when we sparred before we encountered our first village, so she can take care of herself."

"I still cannot help but worry..." replied the knight. "You never can be too careful..."

"That's true," said Ike. "But in the event that something does happen, she'll be able to handle herself long enough for you to come right to the rescue."

Seth opened his mouth to reply, but he found himself stuck on words. Ike suddenly tilted his head to the side as he walked away from the fire.

"There's something you're not telling me here..." said the mercenary.

Before the knight was able to reply, however, a noise was suddenly heard, both of their sights being diverted to a nearby bush.

"That's not good," said Ike. "Get the others awake."

"Yes, sir," said Seth quickly before running to the other tents.

Ike shook his head at how needlessly formal Seth was before raising Ragnell up.

"I know you're there!" said the mercenary calmly. "Now, show yourself!"

Ike did not hear anything except for a quick giggle.

Suddenly, Ike felt himself taken over by a mysterious force, and before he could see anything else, he found a force headed his way. Quickly, he brought up Ragnell to deal with it, and the force was suddenly cut in half. However, it took the manifestation of a dancing man as it slowly dissipated into nothing.

Eirika was apparently the first person there, and she stood by Ike's side, her rapie in her hand as she looked at the mercenary.

"What is it?" asked the queen promptly.

"I don't know," replied the mercenary. "But whatever it is, I don't like what it just did."

But then, the force came at the two of them. Ike was not lucky enough to stop the force coming at him that time, and before he knew it he found himself moving his legs in the strangest fashion. Soon afterwards, the rest of his body followed as he leaped and pranced around the fire.

Eirika followed Ike's movement with her eyes, surprise showing on her expression that quickly molded into one of disgust and anger.

"Ike!" shouted Eirika angrily. "This is no time to be dancing!"

"I can't control it!" yelled Ike. "Kill whatever sent that thing my way!"

Eirika's ears suddenly tuned in to a light-hearted giggle from the bushes as Seth emerged from another tent with Fiordiligi and Willie. Without wasting any more time, Eirika dashed straight for the bush, whatever was in there barely having a minute to take a breath before her rapier stabbed into the bushes, and suddenly a blood-curdling scream sounded throughout the plain as Gaston and Kuranga were both ushered out into the field by Seth.

"Good heavens, give me five more minutes!" screamed Maria from within her tent.

Thankfully, Ike's movements came to a sudden stop right next to the fire, and he breathed in for a moment before turning around at his tent.

"We're being attacked!" shouted Ike at Maria's tent. "Get up, and help us out here!"

Before Ike was able to say anything more, he heard Willie yelling, and suddenly Ike turned around to find that the Cockney boy was dancing around the camp in a similar manner to what Ike was doing shortly before that.

"Eh!" he yelled loudly. "Wet's going on 'ere? Yeh ain't got no roight teh do dis teh me!"

Cormag came running out of his tent, lance at the ready as he noticed the Cockney boy's strange movements.

"Well, don't just let yourself get carried away like that!" exclaimed Fiordiligi loudly. "Do something!"

"But were deh I foire?" asked Willie loudly.

"Anywhere!" replied the lady.

Willie prepared a fireball, and blindly launched it in a random direction. The fireball landed in a tree and burned it into a crsip. However, as Maria exited the tent groggily, she somehow managed to step on a tail of a spirit that had materialized right before her feet. It let out a very loud scream in its pain, and the cat laguz suddenly woke up very violently, quickly turning to face the spirit.

In a second, she was on the strange creature, its strange whitish mass squirming underneath as Maria quickly transformed and proceeded to claw away at the creature's back, and the screams slowly died in the night sky as Willie fell to the earth mid-jump.

The cat laguz shifted back to her human state and pointed at the spirit's corpse angrily, eyes filled with hate and nostrils flaring with rage.

"_That_ was for waking me up at this hour!" yelled the cat laguz.

Ike chuckled, the laguz laughing at the comment as Willie got up, his shirt covered with brown soil. He looked down on it and then towards the heavens, sighing angrily.

"Aw, dem it!" yelled the Cockney boy loudly.

Before anything else could be done, however, a third spirit suddenly materialized in front of them, and then a group of four rusalkas appeared behind her. The men in the party immediately ceased their laughter as they looked at this sight, Seth, Cormag, and Eirika instantly shuddering as they saw the person who was there before them.

In front of the rusalkas stood a rather tall man, blonde hair resting neatly on top of it and with a face resembling that of Cormag very well. His soulless eyes gazed onto the people ahead of them.

"General... Glen?" asked Eirika.

"Impossible..." said Cormag, letting his lance down as he spoke. "You died in the War of the Stones!"

"That does not matter now," replied the man, in a tone that almost seemed as if he was reciting it without wanting to do so. "I am authorized to kill you under any cirumstances."

Cormag suddenly frowned, bringing his lance back into fighting position.

"You can't be Glen," said the wyvern knight dangerously. "You can't be Glen!"

"Prove it," replied the man who was apparently Glen as a lance materialized from nowhere. "I don't think you would have the idea to kill your brother."

"You're not my brother!" yelled Cormag, sapphire eyes squeezed shut in anger. "Shut up!"

And before anything else happened, the wyvern knight charged at the man, lance violently swinging as Glen dodged to the side with a quick jump.

With this motion, the rusalkas were already prepared, and they fired their jets of water at the rest of the group. However, they were alert enough that they dodged the water in time, Maria and Gaston quickly transforming as the rusalkas teleported from the area.

The fight between Glen and Cormag continued, the two of them exchanging blows as Ike looked around frenetically.

"Be careful!" shouted the mercenary. "Seth, cover Fiordiligi! She almost got kidnapped when we were dealing with these people last time!"

Seth nodded an walked over to where the healer stood. Eirika looked around her, and then the whoosh of wind behind her told her she should probably swing her sword around.

She then spun around, the rapier cutting right into the right side of a rusalka that had appeared right behind her. This one shattered into glass before she could even scream.

Glen, meanwhile, had Cormag in a lock with the lances, the two of them gritting their teeth as they both fought to overpower each other. Finally, after a few grunts from both sides, Cormag kicked Glen very hard in the shin three times, causing the general to get down on his knees. However, before the lance could be sent in a slashing motion onto Glen's shoulders the wyvern knight felt his feet fall out from under him. He had to look up quickly and bring his lance into a guard, and then the end of Glen's lance hovered mere inches away from Cormag's face. The wyvern rider growled maliciously, before sweeping the deceased general's feet out from under him with his own legs. He quickly stood up, and Cormag sent his lance in a slash, Glen expertly blocking it as the fight continued.

Another rush of wind came from around the camp, one of the rusalki appearing right in front of Fiordiligi. Seth, who was back to back with Fiordiligi, only had time to look before the lady's fist sailed straight into the rusalka's face. The spirit stumbled back quickly, and picking up the signal, Seth ran around the healer, the tip of his own lance cleanly slicing through its neck. Before the head could be sent flying far, though, it crashed into more shards of glass, the glass falling neatly on the floor as if to represent the sliced head of the spirit.

Fiordiligi gave a bold smile to the rest of the group as she shook her hand from how hard she had punched the spirit.

"That felt... very good," said the lady.

"Yeah, but wet about dem oder too?" asked Willie as he looked around.

The Cockney boy's question was quickly taken care of as another rusalka materialized right behind Fiordiligi. However, Kuranga saw it first, so before the spirit was able to clasp its arms around her, the dragon was able to bring his mouth up and breathe his grey mist. The rusalka barely had time to turn around before the mist hit it, and then when Fiordiligi turned around she found the rusalka down on the ground. Eirika, who was the closest one to the rusalka, slashed at its head with her rapier just before it could get up, and then the familiar crash of glass was heard again as the rapier connected.

"Well, that is three of them," said the queen plaintively as she held her sword up. "But where is the fourth?"

Her question remained unanswered, for then a male yell was heard from Cormag and Glen's fight. Everybody turned in his direction to find that Glen had the head of Cormag's lance embedded deep into his abdomen. Before anything else could be said, the remaining rusalka appeared right in front of Fiordiligi, and then it shattered into glass as it let out a scream, the scream suspended in the air for a few seconds after its death, Fiordiligi sighing annoyedly as she looked at the shards of the rusalka before her.

"Why do they have a penchant for me, of all people?" asked the somewhat perturbed lady as the general slowly slid off of the lance.

As Cormag looked on, Glen suddenly melted into a strange combination of steel and water, and it formed into a perfect puddle right next to the fire.

The wyvern knight scoffed at this, Ike walking to his side as the laguz shifted back into their human states and walked towards him.

"I knew he could not be him..." said Eirika.

"So you knew this man," said Fiordiligi quickly.

"His name was Glen," said Seth. "He was a high-ranking general of Grado at the time of the War of the Stones. Cormag was his younger brother."

"Oh," said Gaston, nodding as he stretched the wings that he knew he barely got to use in that fight. "I wondered how you knew him..."

"But he was killed by Valter," said Eirika. "How could this happen?"

There was a profound silence, Kuranga's eyes closed as he thought about what the matter was. Finally, he opened his scarlet orbs and nodded.

"There is something bigger going on here," said the dragon. "There must be a central power here, I am sure of it. Through this puddle of... whatever it is, I can sense four other entities..."

"So there's more," said Maria.

"I feel one of them in the south," said Kuranga.

"South..." said Seth. "But that is impossible!"

"That's where Grado was, isn't it?" asked Ike plaintively, casting a glance at the Silver Knight as he spoke.

"Yes!" said Eirika. "But it has been uninhabited by people! Something must be going on. Can you tell us what is going on there?"

"My ability to read auras is not that strong, my queen," replied the dragon laguz. "But I can tell you that the other three are located in the northeastern part of the continent, and that one unit is headed west as we speak."

"West..." said the queen of Renais, shock entering her eyes. "Oh no. That area is Rausten! And Carcino! Oh, no..."

"So we have to go all the way back up?" asked Ike.

"Undoubtedly," said the queen. "And I must warn my brother about this threat! Rausten and Carcino are both in great danger if this is as bad as I think it is!"

"Well then, let's move!" said Ike.

"Not now..." said Maria, stretching her arms high in the air and yawning loudly as she said this. "I'm really tired..."

"Now dat yeh talk bout it, so im I," added Willie.

Ike groaned, shaking his head angrily.

"We can stay here then," said Eirika, simply shrugging. "Everybody! Back to sleep!"

Nobody questioned the queen, and before they knew it, the entire group went back to their tents. Ike stood by the fire for a few minutes longer, finally groaning louder in annoyance before he walked back into his own tent, falling onto his sleeping mat with a fairly soft thud against the earth.

* * *

When they were on the road the next day, Eirika and Seth led the way back to the palace, Cormag trailing just behind and Ike walking behind Cormag's wyvern.

As the group walked, Gaston came up to Ike walking a little before his brown eyes laid themselves on the mercenary.

"Hey, Ike," began the raven.

Ike turned his head to acknowledge the raven.

"Hi," said Ike.

"I wanted to tell you something earlier," began the raven. "But I wasn't able to find you this morning."

"Well then, what's up?" asked the mercenary.

"I had this strange dream last night," said Gaston. "I was in the woods, and there was the most beautiful of ladies standing in front of me. Oh... But then Maria appeared, and they angrily talked. I don't remember their conversation, but all I remember is some line about leaving us alone. Maria left, and then she... well... uh..."

"I'll let you leave it at that," said Ike, knowing where the rest was and that Gaston would probably be fumbling with words for a while before he finally settled on one. "It's only a dream, you know. It's not like those events actually happened..."

"But I had the strangest sense of déjà vu in my dream..." replied the raven.

"Really?" asked Ike, trying his best to hide his worries about what happened at the wood the other day. "I don't know what to tell you, because I don't know how you got that sense of... whatever you just said..."

"Eh," replied Gaston. "I'm just as confused about it as you are. I think I'll ask Kuranga about it."

"You called?" asked the dragon laguz from directly behind the raven.

Gaston hunched over, turning around slowly to make sure that the dragon really was there behind him.

"Oh, Kuranga..." said the raven, physically showing his relief at seeing the dragon there. "I wanted to talk to you."

Kuranga seemed to notice Ike's need to talk to Maria out of Gaston's earshot, so he silently gestured with his head and turn to Gaston.

"Yes?" asked the dragon, slowing down a little so that Willie, Fiordiligi, and Maria all went past the two of them.

The raven and the dragon both talked in the back, Ike motioning for Maria to come towards him. The cat laguz walked next to Ike, amethyst orbs filled with worry as Ike leaned over to speak into her ear.

"I think he knows something about what happened there..." said Ike. "He says he had a dream last night..."

"Oh dear..." replied the cat laguz. "This is bad..."

"Yer tellin' me, mu'um?" asked Willie, gesturing wildly with his hands. "But don't yeh worry none. We ain't gonna tell nobody!"

"You have my word," replied Fiordiligi. "But do keep in mind that there might be a point where we have to reveal everything sometime..."

"Don't worry, Maria," said Ike. "And if he does find out, we'll be right next to you, okay?"

"You're all really great..." said Maria, nodding. "Thank you guys."

"No problem, mu'um," replied Willie.

The group pressed on in the landscape of Renais, their journey north unabated by any spirits as they hurried to the palace of Renais to deliver the terrible news.


	5. Chapter 5: Visions of Another World

Well, guys, here I am! I'm in my dorm at the Boston Conservatory! It's so exciting!

Anyways, with my added workload now I might have less time to update this than I expected, so if you find yourself overwhelmed at the lack of updates for this fic, don't freak; I'm probably spending that extra time jotting down notes and notes and more notes on sheets of paper. You have been warned.

Now that I have that out of the way, we had a little variation on stuff on Slavic mythology last chapter; the wili. The wili is a variation on the vila; it's a beautiful seductress, but there are huge differences beyond that. The wili are spirits of deceased ladies who were betrayed by the men they love, and they then appear to the man the night before the guy's wedding and make him dance around a bit until he died of exhaustion. (For you ballet fanatics out there, Adolfe Adam's ballet _Giselle_ is centered around this concept.) In Legend, wili are similar, except now they can get any man, not just ones that broke hearts, so you know where that leads.

And with that, I give you this chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

**_Kuranga's ability to read auras has detected a terrible development in Rausten. To his understanding, the theocratic nation will not be able to hold its own against the spirits. Thus, he urges a fast course of action to keep the war against the spirits from raging across the continent._**

**_Upon hearing this knews, Eirika and Ike both direct the group back to castle Renais, racing north to the palace and arriving there as quickly as they can do so. Upon finding that the most immediate threat to itself has died away, king Ephraim readies his troops to head to Rausten, Eirika and Ike arriving just before Ephraim can issue any orders to move forward._**

**_As they rest just outside of the border with Rausten, Ike has a very mysterious dream set upon him, one that may provide another link to what is going on..._**

Chapter 5: Visions of Another World

_Ike found himself in a strange landscape when he closed his eyes that night._

_The landscape was dead. A desert of black rock was all he was able to see for miles around him. He stumbled blindly in this world, not knowing which direction to go in at all, the black rock being so disorienting as to be quite a hinderance to Ike's methodology of getting around the world._

_The black rock was also sank the slightest bit between his feet, and he could not stay still for a second before the rock beneath him began to sink and he had to press forward._

_Finally, Ike despaired, falling to his knees as he panted hard and gritted his teeth._

_However, just as the rock had began sinking under his weight, Ike suddenly beheld a strange sight before him. As he jumped to an entirely different place and stood up quickly, he found himself looking straight at a lush area of green._

_Confused by this development, the mercenary pressed forward, eventually reaching a garden the likes of which the mercenary had not seen before. The plants in this garden had leaves of the greenest green, the flowers shining brilliantly of white and gold and thousands of other colors that were unnaturally bright in nature. Ike marvelled at such a piece of nature._

_However, all of the flowers suddenly turned a dim mauve color, and then they wilted away very rapidly. The mercenary beheld this sight, and then the whole garden seemed to moan suddenly as all of the plants wilted rapidly, leaving a bewildered Ike to look around him._

_However, as the garden wilted before his very eyes, he noticed too that all of the rock surrounding him was suddenly dissapearing as well, and it gave way to a landscape that somewhat lacked in the grandeur of the garden but was somehow much prettier._

_Bewildered by this sight, Ike suddenly was thrust into a strange world were he levitated in the air, a mysterious grey aura surrounding him on all sides._

_"You have the first key to the puzzle," resounded a voice in his head. "Two more keys will follow. Only you and your friends can break this terrible curse that has been lain on Magvel. I pray you may find their meaning before it is too late..."_

And then, Ike jolted up in his bed to find the sun still down and Maria still sleeping next to him. He looked around a little bit to find that nothing in the tent had been moved; his shirt and Ragnell were still in the same spot they were, Maria was still sleeping where she had slept calmly before, and everything else was in order.

Shrugging his shoulders, he fell back into the sleeping bag, resolving to ask Kuranga about it in the morning before they set off for the day the very next morning.

* * *

Ike had barely woken up the next morning when he found the trumpets of war heralding their shrill sound on the otherwise quiet morning air.

The mercenary shot up in his bed violently, Maria shooting up in a similar manner as Ike fumbled for his shirt and Ragnell.

"Aw, damn it!" cried the cat laguz. "That's another time!"

"Don't worry about it!" replied Ike as he stood up, fully dressed and with Ragnell on his shoulder. "Just hurry up and let's get going!"

Upon running back out into the camp, Ike found that spirits were already circling the area. This time, they moved about like a hot summer wind, casting firebolts in every which direction. The entire army that Ephraim had assembled was standing right in front of them, in a circle and ready to charge at any time. These spirits took on a female form, their skin moving along their bodies almost like a hot summer wind and a few leaves being the only other indication where they were. Ike and Maria took a place when they noticed Fiordiligi and Willie standing in a particular spot. Ike and Maria walked over there, Fiordiligi and Willie both giving them stern looks.

"For some reason, I find it quite unsettling that you two are always late for everything," said the lady quite bluntly.

"Hey, don't blame it on us!" said Maria. "I'm unused to travelling to so many different placesat a time! It's getting to my head!"

"Eh, what kin I tell yeh?" asked Willie, shrugging his shoulders.

Before the Cockney boy was able to finish his sentence, however, the spirits suddenly lurched forward, charging at the group at full speed.

"Charge!" came Ephraim's commanding voice over the thunder of the spirits.

Ike wasted no time yelling in turn. Maria transformed into her animal state as Ike and his small little clique ran forwards, the soldiers that were behind him following suit, and then Ike leapt high into the air and slashed a spirit in two. As he descended, he took the time to slash straight through another one, both of them screaming in a final agony as Ike landed on the ground. As Willie released a fireball at the spirits, Ike turned to Fiordiligi.

"So what are these things?" asked Ike as he turned around and slashed at another spirit.

"Sky women, I think," replied the lady as she ran to a wounded soldier and raised her staff into the air. "They're like rusalkas, except they're air spirits."

"Like rusalkas..." replied Ike in turn as Maria bounced off of his blade and jumped onto another spirit. "Got it."

The mercenary turned around as the cat laguz fell to the earth with the spirit and clawed at it, slashing at another spirit and watching as the wave of air that came from his sword smited the enemy.

Ephraim was at the other end of the camp, holding the spirits off with an incredible expertise in lances. As he fought, his lance twirled about as if he was wielding a simple ceremonial stick. Seth and Eirika stood by his side, the two of them defeating every other spirit that came at them with the odd sword stroke and the stab of the lance. The three of them guided their section of the army quite skillfully, with L'arachel acting as a sort of medic to the units. However, whenever Fiordiligi turned around she always found the queen of Renais raising her hand into the air, and then a bolt of light would stun an enemy before either Ephraim or Eirika found an opportunity to kill the spirit that L'arachel had felled. A kind of strange jealousy worked into Fiordiligi's will every time she saw it, but she dismissed it very passivel and continued to heal those around her.

Kuranga, meanwhile, was in his dragon state and was working within the front of the spirits itself, sending his gray mist at all of the creatures as they fell to his flame. Cormag and Gaston were both flying in the skies, the two of them diving at their prey quickly and efficiently to rid themselves of any additional threat to them that lurked in the skies. The wyvern knight usually tended to fell enemies close to Ike and his friends, whereas Gaston always aimed to drop the enemies at Ephraim's group. No matter which side was doing what, however, one thing was certain; this battle was almost certainly a victory.

And then, right when the battle was almost won and all of the sky women were purged from the area, a strange light suddenly appeared in the center of the campsite. From this strange light, a very old man appeared suddenly, eyes surrounded by a large area of purple skin and gaunt figure betraying a strange kind of extreme evil as he smirked at the army. The entire army had their backs to the figure, and so he began a very complex spell, a huge magic circle appearing under his feet.

However, Maria's sensitive ears picked up the sound of the wind churning, and as she turned around she saw the evil in front of her.

The cat laguz let out a malicious growl before she raced right into the center of camp and leapt onto the spirit, the old man barely having time to widen his eyes in shock before Maria was on him, tearing at his flesh in a savage way.

As the cat laguz worked at this, the rest of the sky women suddenly shrivelled up into nothing, and almost instantaneously they dissipated into regular air again, the leaves that were flying around them suddenly floating back down to earth ever so gently. As the leaves fell, Ike turned to notice Maria tearing at another spirit.

And he flashed a smile in her direction before everybody else could turn around to see what the cat laguz had done.

And then, when the old man had melted into the same puddle of metal and water as had Glen, the laguz just stood above the puddle with a surprised look on its features as Ike walked up to her first. When he got to the transformed laguz, he patted her on the shoulder with a smile on his face.

"Hey, you noticed it first," said the mercenary. "You get all the credit for the kill."

Maria transformed back into her human state, still on all fours as the cat gave the mercenary a playful stare.

"In your dreams..." said the cat laguz.

This phrase suddenly gave Ike memory of the strange dream he had had the night before, and suddenly he stood up, noticing Kuranga shifting back into his human form in front of his very eyes.

"Kuranga!" said Ike as he ran towards the dragon, the rest of the army gathering around Maria and the puddle of metal and water that had gathered there as he approached the dragon.

"You are disturbed," said the dragon. "You have had a dream, no doubt?"

"Yes," said Ike. "And I was hoping maybe you could help me interpret it..."

"Of course," said the dragon. "But let us keep this conversation away from the public, yes?"

Ike simply nodded as he followed the dragon laguz into his tent, the rest of the world not seeming to notice their exit as they sat down on the ground.

"So, tell me; what was your dream about?" asked the dragon.

"I was in this strange land," began Ike. "I was standing on this strange black stone that sank when I stood still for a few seconds. And there was this stone all across the horizon. And then, as I was walking, I found this strange garden, where everything was colorful and happy and all that. But then the garden wilted, and then it dissapeared like that! And then the black rock that I was walking on also dissapeared. I saw this pretty normal looking place before a voice said something about keys and curses and other things like that. And that's when I woke up."

"Hm..." said Kuranga, closing his eyes and nodding solemnly. "This might be a difficult one, as I am not quite sure what the black rock is. But I can tell you that the voice at the end probably signals two things; either the spirits are trying to divert us from our mission, or somebody is trying to help us. Either way, it is apparent this is a message sent from somebody with enormous magical powers."

"So it's all a matter of figuring out what comes after that, right?" asked the mercenary, shifting a little in his seat.

"Yes," replied the dragon. "Now that I think about it, Grado was destroyed, was it not?"

"I think so," said Ike.

"Then that is probably the black rock," said Kuranga, opening his eyes. "That is probably the agent of the destruction of Grado. And then the garden is something that if destroyed, could rescue Grado."

"I see..." said Ike. "But how do we destroy it?"

Kuranga looked at Ike with deep consideration in his ruby eyes before nodding very slowly as an idea came to mind.

"Did the voice that spoke at the end of your dream say anything about multiple messages?" asked the dragon.

"Yes, it did," replied the mercenary. "It said something like this was one of three keys to a puzzle or something..."

"Then that must be it," replied Kuranga, a soft grin forming on his features. "This is a message meant to help us, and the entire picture will be revealed with the coming of the next two messages. Somebody is trying to help us here."

"Oh," said Ike. "I see. That's really all I wanted to ask. Thanks, Kuranga."

The mercenary stood up and walked outside of the tent.

"You are welcome," replied the dragon. "If you get another message in your dreams, be sure to come to me about it."

"I will," said Ike, who had turned around to shout this last line to the dragon as he rejoined everybody else by the side of the puddle of evil just as the crowd had dissipated such that most soldiers were already gone. Seth, Eirika, and Ephraim all stood around the puddle, L'arachel and Fiordiligi just outside of the circle. As Ike came forward, he nodded when he looked at the puddle.

"So, what did I miss?" asked Ike.

"This was Riev," replied Seth matter-of-factly. "One of the most dangerous men on Magvel."

"Thank goodness we took care of this evil man now," said L'arachel. "It means that the others in Rausten are not recieving the blow of evil upon their shrines."

Fiordiligi rolled her eyes in annoyance at how eloquent L'arachel's sentence came out before Eirika turned to face Ike.

"At any rate, we managed to stop the most dangerous man on Magvel before he could punish anybody," said the queen. "We have also managed to stop the advance on Carcino and Frelia. So for this, be sure to thank your friend. For me."

"I will, Eirika," replied Ike.

"I think we've had enough today," said Ephraim quite suddenly. "I'm going to go ahead and stay here since we just fought a hard-won battle. What do you guys say to that?"

"Oh, that would be absolutely wonderful," said Fiordiligi quickly, emerald orbs lighting up in happiness.

"All right then," said Ephraim. "I'll go spread the news throughout the camp."

The king left the rest of the group, opening a tent flap and speaking into the tent.

"And the light of righteousness wins again!" exclaimed L'arachel suddenly before running over to her tent.

As soon as the fiery queen was out of everybody's sight, Fiordiligi groaned, shoulders drooping in annoyance.

"My god..." said Fiordiligi, shaking her head. "Why does she have to be so flamboyant?"

"It's part of who she is," replied Eirika. "It always spikes during wars, though, because this is exactly how she was during the War of the Stones..."

"It was worse during that war, though," added Seth with a gesture. "She paraded around Magvel with two of her bodyguards to smite the evil on the continent."

"Really?" asked Ike.

Fiordiligi could not help but chuckle at this strange recollection, and then she giggled shortly after.

"Even if she gets on my nerves with her talk about righteousness, I still find something about her to laugh about," said the lady as soon as she was over with her giggling fit.

"We find something to laugh about with everyone eventually," said Eirika, flashing a smile to the world.

"That's really true with L'arachel, then," said Ike, expression remaining somewhat cold and hard.

It would continue to show a serious demeanor as the conversation continued on, the four of them walking on towards Eirika's tent as they spoke.


	6. Chapter 6: Times Together

And I'm back. Again. Man, this feels like the only thing I've cared to update. That'll have to be fixed...

Anyways, there was more Slavic mythology last time, too, so I should go over that. These are the sky women. These are similar to rusalkas, except they're in the air. In the original context, sky women were said to make snow, and thunder is the result of their mating with certain gods. Here, they just shoot thunder from their beings, so you know where that leads.

You know the rest, I trust. Viva la vida de colégio!

* * *

**_Ephraim's army encountered one of the signs of the enemy that were found in Rausten. Now, with this threat on the way, Ephraim makes to Mansel's castle, finding that he has not come to Rausten's aid too late._**

**_With a sigh of relief, L'arachel graciously introduces the group to the royal court of the theocracy. While they are there, Mansel decides to tell the group who Rausten's new heir will be._**

**_They are met with a very strange surprise..._**

Chapter 6: Times Together

"Cousin Ivan? Dear uncle, please reconsider your choice!"

"What have I to consider? He is the most eligible man, being the only son born of any other relatives."

"You have a cousin? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I did not even know he had one until the war ended!"

L'arachel stood in the throne room of Rausten, her friends standing just behind her as she spoke to her uncle Mansel. Amongst the various religious relics that were kept in the throne room, the two relatives had been talking about various things with each other. When the heir to the throne of Rausten turned out to be his son Ivan, the former princess of Rausten was quite surprised at this. Fiordiligi stood next to Ike, making a hard effort to stand through L'arachel's talk of righteousness and saving the continent, with Maria and Willie both rubbing their hands on her back in an attempt to calm her down. Kuranga, Gaston, and Cormag stood behind the four of them, and Eirika, Seth, and Ephraim all stood behind L'arachel as she spoke.

"That does not matter," replied Mansel. "All that matters is that he is my heir, and you should be happy for him. Are you jealous of him?"

"Jealous?" asked L'arachel, taken aback just a little. "Jealous? Since when did such a notion cross your mind that I was capable of jealousy?" Mansel opened his mouth to say something but was rudely interrupted by his feiry niece. "Jealousy is in no way the bringer of righteousness and good! I am never one to be jealous! I--"

"All right, we get it," interrupted Fiordiligi, who was beginning to show major aggravation towards L'arachel's various rumblings about virtue. "You are not jealous of your cousin. Now, as you were saying, your majesty?"

Mansel bowed his head towards Fiordiligi in a respectful gesture, graying hairs visible for a second before he turned to look at L'arachel again.

"If you are not jealous, then why do you object?" asked the emperor, shifting in his seat.

"He is far to young, uncle," replied the feisty lady rapidly. "Please, can't a grand chancellor of Saint Latona rule until he is old enough?"

"Old enough?" asked Ike. "And how old is this 'Ivan'?"

"He's only six years old!" screamed L'arachel angrily.

"Ooh..." replied Maria, eyes shifting around nervously as she spoke.

"In that case, I would have to agree..." added Fiordiligi, drooping her shoulders down a visible extent and letting out a fairly hearty sigh.

"I don't dink no young chindren be abe to rule no kingdom, I don't," added Willie, patting Fiordiligi pretty hard in the back.

"But nobody else is qualified enough to do the job!" replied Mansel defensively.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ephraim, annoyed at how the meeting between his uncle-in-law was faring. "There is no way a six year old has any knowledge to rule!"

"I plead with you; please understand!" cried Mansel passionately.

Kuranga grumbled and shook his head, his hand coming to rest on his head with a soft smack, and then he walked up to the king.

"What are you doing?" asked Mansel.

"Relax," replied the dragon as he stood before the throne and held his hand out onto the king's forehead. "This will feel a little strange..."

Suddenly, the emperor's eyes shifted around somewhat uncomfortably, but only a second later Kuranga had lifted his hand from Mansel's forehead.

"What did you just do to my uncle?" asked the princess of Rausten, a cross expression on her features. "What did you--?"

"Dude, L'arachel, chill out!" cried Gaston. "Sometimes, you get a stronger reading of auras if you walk up to a subject and do some stuff!"

"It is more elaborate than that, but thank you for clarifying, Gaston," said Kuranga. "The auras from him say that Mansel will live a long and fruitful life; enough that when he dies your cousin will be more than capable of ruling."

"But are you sure?" asked Eirika. "I mean, what if the spirits are trying to fool you?"

"The spirits have no control over their own auras," replied the dragon somewhat stoically.

"So he shall live long enough for Ivan to have an education?" asked L'arachel.

"Of course," replied the dragon.

"Oh," said Eirika. "In that event, there is truly no reason to argue, I guess."

"What?" asked L'arachel defensively. "But what if the reading is wrong? What if--?"

"Oh, enough of your whining!" shouted an incredibly annoyed Fiordiligi. "This is no way to act in front of your own relative, who hopes for the good of his nation. Just, shut up!"

The angered lady let out an angry growl before storming out of the throne room, leaving everybody else just a little perplexed. Finally, Mansel coughed, bringing everybody back to the moment.

"Well, then..." said Mansel. "I see we have no qualms about who my heir is. Very well then. Guards! Show our guests to their rooms!"

A group of guards then came from the sides of the throne room where they had stood vigilantly the entire time, and they walked with the group outside of the throne room.

As soon as they had exited the throne room, Ephraim turned to L'arachel with a somewhat perplexed look on his face.

"You had a cousin?" asked the king of Renais. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"He was born during the war," replied L'arachel, still somewhat shocked at Fiordiligi's outburst. "And I never got to telling you."

"Well, 'e be livin' and det be all dat's impertent," said Willie. "I'm genna foind Viordilegi."

"You go do that," said Ike. "Gaston can show you back when you find her."

The Cockney boy nodded quickly before breaking away from the group, racing down the hall and calling out Fiordiligi's name almost frantically.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think Willie has a thing for Fiordiligi..." said Gaston as soon as the boy was out of earshot.

"That is quite a strange love, then," said Cormag. "Willie is so much younger than Fiordiligi is."

"That's actually a trick," said Maria. "You know how we said there were laguz and beorc where we come from, right?"

"Oh, so there's something more to this than you told us," said Ephraim.

"What is it?" asked Eirika, somewhat distressed and curious at the same time.

"The branded," replied Kuranga. "Or, what you get when a laguz and a beorc fall in love, at any rate."

"So they age slower is what you are saying?" asked Seth.

Ike, Maria, Gaston, and Kuranga looked at the Silver Knight with shock in their eyes. The rest of the group left stares on their figures before shrugging at them.

"We just hit it right on the button, didn't we?" asked Eirika.

"You could say that," said Ike. "But Willie's one of them."

"Oh," said Cormag. "I see..."

"And that is why we should never assume things, right?" added Eirika with a slight chuckle.

"Indeed," said Kuranga.

"Here are your rooms, sirs and madams," said the guards stoically as they stopped right in front of a hallway with several doors leading into rooms. "Good day."

And with this, the guards left, leaving the group standing there wondering what else would happen.

"Oh, don't you think it's rude how they just left us here without telling us where we're supposed to sleep?" asked the cat laguz, ears drooping down as a sign of annoyance.

"Leave that to me," said L'arachel before she went off and followed the guards quickly before they dissapeared down the hallway.

* * *

Fiordiligi sat on the marble stairs to the palace of Rausten, staring somewhat glumly at the sun as it ebbed slowly in the distance.

L'arachel had been getting on Fiordiligi's nerves to the point that she had to let it out somehow. But now that she had calmed down she had seen that such a reaction was not warranted from one such as herself. Thus, she had taken to sitting on the steps. The guards did not mind, so she sat there for quite some time, dwelling on L'arachel.

Suddenly, the doors opened behind her, and out came the recognizable figure of Willie. He walked up to Fiordiligi and sat next to her a little too abruptly, such that when he found he was too close to the lady for comfort, he scooted over a little to the side before he opened his mouth.

"Yeh no, mu'um, I den't no wet got inteh yeh," began the Cockney boy almost rudely. "Wy?"

"Please, Willie," replied the lady. "I would rather not talk about it."

"Well, mu'um, yeh do no I'll be 'ere fer yeh no matter wet yeh do, roight?" asked the boy. "So tell me wet's up."

The lady sighed.

"I can't take this anymore, Willie," said Fiordiligi. "L'arachel... She is so aggravating to deal with sometimes."

"Oh, yer tellin' me, mu'um?" asked Willie. "I don't like deh way she goes bein' all 'de roight of de... contirent, or 'owever yeh say it."

"I know!" exclaimed Fiordiligi, throwing her hands into the air. "She is too prideful of herself! She is so loud about it, too! Oh, why does she have to be so audacious? Her behavior is hardly becoming of one of her stature!"

"I no," said Willie. "She scares me, too..."

Fiordiligi sat in silence for a few seconds before turning to Willie.

"It's nice to know somebody shares my sentiments," said the lady, a smile coming to her face. "But how do you keep it to barely visible levels?"

"In deh streets, yeh see peeple in der worst," said the Cockney boy in reply. "Yeh lern teh ber it, yeh does."

"I see..." said Fiordiligi. "I do not understand. Why can't I be more like you in such a situation?"

"It takes time, medinks," replied Willie. "But I like yeh deh way yeh are now, Viordilegi."

"Aw, Willie, there's no need," said the lady, her heart fluttering just a little as she spoke.

"Well, mu'um, yeh be a real good person teh all, eben if yer temper ain't all good, yeh no?" asked the boy.

"I see," said Fiordiligi as she stood up and motioned towards the doors of the palace. "Shall we go back in?"

"Ef curse, mu'um," replied Willie. "After yeh."

The lady nodded, nodding to the guard to have him open the doors for them. When they were opened, the two of them walked back into the palace, the two of them happier than they where when they left it.

* * *

Seth stood at the door, Eirika noticing his presence as she walked to her room. She looked at the red-headed knight and sighed.

"Sir Seth," she said simply. "Why must you be standing in front of my door all the time when you know very well that in a place like this, I can't possibly be kidnapped?"

"You never can tell, milady," replied the Silver Knight. "I prefer to make sure that you are always safe."

"Seth, I would rather you relax so you can defend me better later than have you waste your energy here," said the queen of Renais with a certain conviction in her voice. "Now please, stop guarding the door."

"Milady..." said Seth. "Would you permit me to stand guard here... for just one night?"

The queen considered for a brief moment before he looked at Seth, azure eyes twinkling just a little.

"Very well, then," said Eirika. "You may stay here tonight."

"I thank you, milady," replied Seth with a light bow.

His bow did not get very far at all before he felt a hand on his forehead. When he glanced up, he found Eirika looking at him with a slight smirk in her face.

"Seth, I have told you time and time again not to refer to me as 'milady'," said Eirika. "Please, do call me Eirika."

"But milady, don't you think it is improper of your knight to call you by your name?" asked Seth, standing back up.

The queen chuckled before she looked Seth in the eye.

"Willie refers to me as 'Eirika', and yet he is a boy who lived on the streets, and thus a man of lower rank than I," replied Eirika. "Therefore, it must be proper for a bodyguard to address his superiors by their name, yes?"

"That is true..." replied Seth. "But--"

"No buts," replied the queen. "You are to refer to me as 'Eirika' from this moment forward. That is a royal order. Understood, Seth?"

"Yes mi... Eirika," said the Silver Knight, bringing a clenched fist to his throat and letting out a cough to hide his blunder.

"That is much better," said the queen. "Good day."

The queen walked into her quarters shortly afterwards, the door closing next to the Silver Knight.

As soon as the lady was out of earshot, Seth sighed, once again thinking thoughts that he was very certain he should not have been having at all.

* * *

Ike sat in his bed, azure eyes staring blankly outside the window and onto the view of the moon that the window provided. He was once again shirtless as he was now wont to be most of the time. Maria had left the room for a few minutes to go talk to Kuranga about something, leaving Ike to his own devices.

He had lately been feeling comfortable around Maria, almost as if he could tell her anything he wanted to without getting in trouble for it. He had been feeling it ever since they had left Renais, and the very mention of Maria's name in his vicinity was enough to make him want to smile for his entire life.

There was, of course, the fact that she was a laguz and he was a beorc, but he had no fear of such a relationship at all. The ony laguz with him were from Greljedo, and the people of Magvel certainly did not know anything about the mating between two different species that resulted in the loss of abilities for one person and for a brand to appar on the infant's features after a while. So until he returned to Tellius, he knew that his feelings were all right.

As he was lost in thought, the door opened suddenly, and the mercenary turned his head to see Maria walking into the room, her face just a little pale from something. Ike could immediately tell something had happened.

"What's wrong?" was the first thing Ike asked as the door closed.

"It's Kuranga..." said Maria, sitting down on her bed in disgust. "I can't believe he just said those things."

"Said what?" asked the mercenary, walking over to Maria's side of the bed.

"I've been having these dreams where I've had this giant brand circling around me endlessly, following me wherever I go," replied the cat laguz. "He says I am going to give birth to a dangerous entity!"

"But why is that a problem?" asked Ike.

"Because he sees the branded as a threat," replied Maria angrily. "Kuranga sees powerful auras from the branded, and he still thinks it's a bad omen!"

"But I thought everyone on Greljedo liked the branded!" replied Ike, gesturing wildly. "I don't get why Kuranga feels any different?"

"He sees the branded as a threat!" replied Maria insistently. "That's all you need to know!"

And with this, she turned away from him. Ike turned to face the window and groaned audibly before he looked back at Maria.

"But you'd normally shrug it off, right?" asked the mercenary.

Maria sighed loudly, and then she turned to Ike with a strange kind of sadness tainting the amethyst orbs that worked so beautifully on her face.

"Please, Ike," pleaded the cat laguz, turning around so that her whole body faced the mercenary. "I've been trying so hard to hide my feelings from Kuranga... Please don't make it any harder on me..."

And as soon as she said this, Ike understood why Maria was so aggravated by what Kuranga had said. Without saying another word, Ike scooted closer to Maria, and his powerful arms swooped around her thin figure. Maria gasped in surprise as Ike held her close to his bare chest, strands of her lilac hair just rubbing against Ike's collarbone.

"My father once told me to go for whatever I felt was right, even if other people say no," said the mercenary slowly. "And I don't care squat about what Kuranga has to say. This feels right to me."

Maria did nothing other than to slowly wrapher own arms around Ike's body, giving a light squeeze to Ike's midsection to help herself get closer to Ike.

"I could stay like this forever," said the cat laguz slowly, sitting up so that her head rested in the crook of Ike's neck. "But I thought this was... You know...?"

"I did say that they are changing, right?" asked Ike. "And what of Kuranga? Forget about him. If we have each other, then that's all that matters, right?"

"Ike..." sighed Maria softly, her eyes closing and a soft smile appearing on her face as the relief washed into her being.

One of the mercenary's hands slowly snaked its way up Maria's body, and it eventually came to rest by Maria's cheek. The man pulled the woman closer to his body, the two of them never having felt so comfortable with such close contact in their lives.

"I..." began the mercenary. "I think... I love you..."

Maria only nuzzled Ike's neck, receiving a soft rumble that was imperceptible to beorc ears but was sweet music to the laguz' ears.

"I love you too," she replied.

The two of them held each other for what felt like an eternity, neither of them wanting to let go in this embrace that told so many things and nothing at all at the same time.


	7. Chapter 7: Theft

Well, that was pretty sappy there, wasn't it? Anyways, that was just a pointless chapter, meant to develop romantic relations between people. You know what I'm getting at here, right?

You know the rest. Oh, and last chapter had a sneak reference to Slavic mythology; however, I won't tell you what it is. I'll give you guys until the end of the book to figure out what it is, and then, you get answers. ;)

You all know the rest. Here's the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**_Ike and the group set out for Rausten the next day, following Kuranga's trail dilligently._**

**_As they approach the aura of the enemy general, something unexpected happens. Something, that nobody hoped would have to happen..._**

Chapter 7: Theft

Ike wiped his forehead once before hammering in the last tent post into the ground. Everyone in the group watched him do this, and then he stood up with a grin on his face as he made sure the tent-post was secure with a tap of his foot.

"There we go," said the mercenary as he discarded the hammer he had been using and walked up to the rest of the group.

"Thank you, Ike," replied Eirika. "I was beginning to worry that tent would collapse on us any second."

"As was I," added Seth, standing at attention with a stern look on his face and with Ragnell under his arm. "For this, I must thank you."

"Okey den," said Willie. "So wet de we do now?"

Kuranga was lost in thought, meanwhile. He felt so many auras at once that his mind was in a mess. The thoughts swam around him, almost in a vortex, and the auras that told him everything about what was to come next were so many that he was beginning to have a hard time catching up to himself.

"I don't know," admitted Ephraim. "There's really not much to do right now."

By then, though, Maria had looked to Kuranga and noticed that his diziness was beginning to manifest itself in the fact that he was holding a hand to his head to steady himself. The poor dragon was also pale, which was something that Maria would never have expected of the otherwise incredibly imposing dragon.

"Kuranga?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

The rest of the group turned to Kuranga and noticed how ill he seemed. However, he managed to regain his balance and stood up proudly. However, he was still deathly pale.

"I am seeing too many auras," replied Kuranga.

"You're seeing too many?" asked Cormag. "But I thought you could read however many auras you want!"

"It's an aura exhaustion," replied Gaston. "If he's getting too many auras, it's what'll happen. If he doesn't read any auras for a while, he'll get better."

"But what do we do until then?" asked Eirika.

"Improvise, I assume," replied Fiordiligi.

"Well, whatever the case, the light of good will show us the way!" exclaimed L'arachel proudly, eyes gleaming proudly.

Fiordiligi sent the queen a glare before she shook her head.

"L'arachel, can we talk?" asked the lady as calmly as she could.

"What is it?" asked L'arachel. "Is it about--?"

"Alone!" hissed Fiordiligi, her brow furrowing into an angry expression and roughly grabbing the queen's arm before dragging her away and into the woods.

A brief silence took hold of the group at what they had just seen. Finally, however, Kuranga brought the hand up to his head again.

"My head is feeling very light..." Kuranga.

"Don't yeh dink yeh shuld sit, Governor?" asked Willie.

The Cockey boy got no reply, for then, one aura suddenly popped out of the sea of auras that had appeared. The shock of this, caused the dragon to lurch upright for a second before he suddenly fell to the ground, arms held outstretched as he laid.

"Oh my goddess!" exclaimed Gaston loudly, eyes wide with fear as he ran to the dragon's side. "Kuranga!"

"Oh, no!" said Maria. "He got the aura shock."

"Aura shock?" asked Ephraim.

Before Maria was able to explain, a bunch of footsteps were heard from where the tent had been. All heads turned around to face a rather large man that was walking from where the tent Ike had just erected was. His clothes were simple and hued the color of a cloudy sky, but his bloodshot eyes above a crescent of purple skin showed sinister intent.

"Caellach!" hissed Eirika.

"Yes, me," replied the general rudely. "I don't think I need to introduce myself to your new friends. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take the dragon now."

"Oh no yeh don't!" cried Willie, quickly casting a fireball that Caellach barely missed by jumping to the side. "We alredy 'ad 'im taken once, and I'll be damed if I let 'im get taken agin, yeh stupid blighter!"

"You'll have to get through us first," replied Ike, Seth somehow managing to hand him Ragnell.

"Very well then," said Caellach, drawing a strange mystical axe from seemingly nowhere. "It's on..."

"Maria, Gaston," said Ike. "Keep guard over Kuranga. We can't lose him again."

The two laguz nodded, and then Caellach lunged at Eirika, the lady jumping to the side and countering with a jab from her rapier.

* * *

Fiordiligi let go of L'arachel's hand once they were out of earshot of the group. The dense brush around them was the only thing that would bear witness to what they would talk about.

"So, what did you want to--?" asked L'arachel somewhat obliviously.

"What is your problem?" interrupted Fiordiligi, teeth barred in anger as she spoke.

"Problem?" asked L'arachel with a confused expression on her face. "I do not have a problem. I would think you are the problem for pulling me out of a conversation so rudely."

"Oh, really?" asked Fiordiligi in reply. "So you have a problem with me pulling you somewhere, yet you do not seem to feel annoyed by the fact that you are such a pretentious lady?"

"Pretentious?" asked L'arachel. "How am I pretentious? I fight for righteousness and good on the continent!"

"See, there you go again!" exclaimed Fiordiligi, hands flailing all over the place in her annoyance. "You think you're so special just because you're a princess!"

"But I'm a princess of Rausten!" replied L'arachel, her frustration beginning to show with a slowly reddening face. "Rausten is special; it has raised all sorts of fighters of evil!"

"But you don't share borders with the rest of the continent," replied the lady, twirling her finger in front of her. "So stay out of other people's affairs."

"It is my destiny!" exlaimed L'arachel angrily. "It is my destiny to serve saint Latona!"

"Well then, I certainly would take my destiny more seriously than this," said Fiordiligi, her voice snide and cold.

"But I am taking it seriously!" replied L'arachel. "How is being in the line of battle not being serious!"

"See?" asked Fiordiligi, pointing at the queen of Renais accusatorily. "There you go again. You are too loud about your destiny! You think that just because you were destined to save the continent means that you get to say whatever you want!

"That's because it does!" shouted L'arachel.

"No, it does not!" replied Fiordiligi. "Ike has been in your position several times, and do you see him gloating about his achievements and his reasons the way you do? Of course not! Besides, we know that's your destiny, so we would like it if you would shut up about it now."

"The enemy does not know," replied L'arachel, face absolutely red with anger. "That's why I shout it out all of the time."

"Oh really?" asked the lady, staring at the queen with incredible rage in her heart. "My definition of a respectable lady such as myself does not include promoting yourself to strangers that are intent on killing you!"

"Oh?" replied L'arachel, golden eyes flaring angrily. "And you are a 'respectable lady' according to yourself? Well, excuse me for not fitting your definition of a respectable lady. Maybe you are a little too prideful for yourself, you dirty masochist!"

A loud slap resounded through the forest, and L'arachel backed away in surprise. Fiordiligi huffed angrily, her hand stinging from where she had slapped L'arachel hard across the face. A tense silence pervaded the area as the color left L'arachel's face, the only area not affected by the shock being the spot where Fiordiligi had slapped her.

"You think I'm a masochist?" screamed Fiordiligi, face contorted in rage. "Huh? Because I can tell you right now, you have never seen a masochist at all! You don't know the self-centered, pain-inducing sons of whores that masochists are at all! I had to deal with one myself, and his name is one that I can never bring up again! He turned my lover against me! He killed my sister! And all for his own profit! You think I'm a masochist? That man was far worse than you can ever imagine! So you better not _dare_ to compare me to that asshole! Understand, you presumptuous little bitch?"

L'arachel stood stunned for a few seconds, ingesting the meaning of Fiordiligi's words.

The lady barely even flinched when L'arachel slapped her in the face, the wild look in her emerald eyes still standing there as she took the slap almost like a man would.

"Bitch?" asked the queen angrily. "Bitch? How dare you call the vanquisher of justice--!"

Fiordiligi smacked L'arachel so hard that the queen was sent falling down on the ground, her body hitting the soil with a dull thud and sending a necklace the queen had been wearing flying off of her neck. The lady was so angry, all she could do was stand there and exhale angrily as the queen stood back up. Anger flared in L'arachel's nostrils as she wiped a trace of blood from her jawline slowly.

"You're not a baby anymore, and you're not in some fantasy that you were told when you were a baby either!" shouted Fiordiligi angrily. "Now stop acting like a little girl stuck in her little fantasy land and grow the hell up!"

And then, L'arachel pounced on Fiordiligi like a wild jackal, and before the lady could process anything else, L'arachel let out a scream and proceeded to slap Fiordiligi several times across the face. Her golden eyes were closed as she flailed around wildly, hitting anything she could in her tantrum.

Fiordiligi suddenly stretched out a fist that sailed straight into L'arachel's abdomen. This was enough to get the queen off of her with a grunt, holding her stomach in pain. The lady took this time to jump on L'arachel herself.

However, L'arachel managed to knee Fiordiligi in the lower extremities, and the lady howled in pain as she sunk to the ground, clutching herself before sinking to the ground.

Before either woman was able to do anything else, they suddenly found themselves trapped in a strange bubble that levitated from the ground. L'arachel, who had by then gathered her bearings, screamed in horror as she felt at the bubble's hard inside. She let out a series of terrified screams that did not penetrate the bubble that they were in, Fiordiligi grasping her ears and frowning rigorously as the queen yelled until her throat was hoarse.

And then, when L'arachel had finally had to stop screaming, a sky woman stepped out from behind the trees, smiling a sinister smile without abandon.

"Well, you two are certainly quite the prideful fools," began the sky woman slyly.

She faced L'arachel with a smirk on her face.

"But you take the cake for being the most pretentious woman I have ever seen," continued the spirit. "If not for the fact that you were screaming like a little girl that had just gotten spanked for the first time, I would never have found you two. Master will be very pleased with this..."

The sky woman laughed maniacally, and before Fiordiligi or L'arachel could do anything about it, the three of them dissapeared into thin air, the wood once again quiet except for the sounds of battle in the distance.

* * *

Meanwhile, the fight with Caellach had gone on for quite some time. The general was usually fighting Ike, Ephraim, Eirika, Cormag, and Seth all at the same time, having to dodge the occasional fireball from Willie that sailed at him every so often. Despite is slightly bulky figure and his large axe, Caellach was still able to dodge most of what the four fighters would throw at him plus Willie's fireball. However, he never managed to get around the four of them successfully so that he could nab Kuranga, so Maria had taken to licking her paws in scorn at the general with Gaston shaking his feathers in a gesture that seemed as rude to the dead man as Maria's gesture. So far, the large man had not lost any energy, and the fighters were beginning to tire out, which was a clear sign that the fight was in Caellach's favor.

However, the fight quickly degenerated to Ike's favor when the general miscalculated a sidestep against a swipe of Eirika's blade. The blade sailed just over his forehead, leaving a faint purple mark over the eyebrows. As shock filled his being, Ephraim took the opportunity to trip Caellach with his lance so that he fell on his back. The general had moved to stand back up when a whack from Seth's lance effectively prevented him from standing back up.

Before Ike was able to say anything else, Cormag held a hand up to stop him. Confused, Ike relented anyways only to find that the tip of Cormag's lance was then pointed straight at Caellach's throat.

"Where the hell is Tana?" asked the wyvern knight loudly, face filling with a strange kind of rage as he spoke.

"You'll never get an answer from me," replied the general slyly.

"I will cut your head off!" screamed Cormag angrily. "Don't you dare test me here! I will serve my lady no matter what!"

"Oh, I think there's more here at stake than servitude..." replied Caellach slyly, a smirk forming on his face as soon as he stopped speaking.

"Tell me where she is, bastard!" shouted Cormag, eyes screwed shut as he yelled.

"You won't get an answer from me," replied Caellach.

The general did not get to say anything else, for then Cormag raised his lance high into the air, and it sailed to the ground.

However, before it could connect with any flesh, the evil man caught the lance with his hand and broke the lance in half with a very strong kick to the middle of the weapon. Before Caellach could do anything else, however, he saw Ragnell sailing towards his midsection, and all else was silence as Ragnell's cut was deep enough to cause the evil general to quickly dissolve into the strange metallic liquid that the other two generals had melted into.

There was movement from Kuranga's direction, and suddenly Maria and Gaston both shifted into their human states. As the dragon's scarlet eyes opened, Gaston slipped his arms behind Kuranga's shoulder and heaved him up so that the seer was in a sitting position. His jet black hair had been contaminated with dirt when he had fallen, but otherwise he looked all right.

"Are you okay, Kuranga?" asked Maria as Ike and the rest of the group walked over to him and knelt onto the ground.

"Do not let the two of them in the woods..." replied the dragon slowly. "They are in danger..."

Willie instantly shot up, and then he looked at the direction that Fiordiligi and L'arachel had run off to.

"Oh, no..." said the Cockney boy under his breath.

Suddenly he ran a few paces just as Ephraim stood up.

"Viordilegi!" yelled Willie as he dashed into the woods.

It was then that Ephraim remembered that L'arachel had gone into the woods with Fiordiligi.

"Oh no..." said the king as he followed the Cockney boy into the woods.

The two of them ran throughout the trees, shouting out the names of the women they loved into the forest as they frantically searched. They were very scared for the women, so much that as they found their search getting more and more futile, they screamed all the harder, Willie screaming Fiordiligi's name until his voice was hoarse from concern.

And then, as he was shouting L'arachel's name, Ephraim tripped on his own two feet, landing into the soil with a loud thud. As he looked up to stand up, he found a necklace laying right in front of his feet that was lined with alternating dots of rubies and gold.

Shock filled Ephraim's eyes as he crawled into a kneeling position and examined the necklace, realizing that it was the necklace that he had given L'arachel as a wedding gift. The whole rest of the world seemed to dissapear for him, Willie's cries for Fiordiligi to appear suddenly being the only other thing he could register. And as the realization hit him hard, his hands shook nervously as they held the necklace, face contorting into disbelief as he shook his head.

"No!" screamed the king as loudly as he could, a tear coursing down his cheek. "L'arachel!"


	8. Chapter 8: The Sands of the Desert

The shit certainly hit the fan last chapter, didn't it? It gets worse than that. Trust me.

And I had my first day of classes today! I managed to survive with surprisingly few battle scars, so I should be fine. Only problem is, one of the textbooks I need for my Harmony and Counterpoint class is out of stock at the online bookstore, so now I need to wait for it to get back in stock for me to be able to buy it. Now that sucks.

Enough rambling about the conservatory life, though. Here's the next chapter, which I hope you enjoy thoroughly.

* * *

**_Fiordiligi and L'arachel's capture is taken very seriously when Ephraim and Willie return to the camp without having a single lead on where the two women could be. However, Kuranga senses a new, second force through Caellach's essense and finds a force slowly descending on Jehanna._**

**_After sending a message to Mansel about the news of his niece's dissapearance, Ephraim and the group set out for the desert nation, and before they realize it Kuranga is suddenly pointing out that their little army arrived first._**

**_Wasting no time whatsoever, the army makes its way to the center of the nation, sending a notice to king Joshua to fortify the borders and to prepare for their arrival._**

**_And as soon as they arrive at the capitol of the desert nation, Ephraim decides to give the army a break, and they set up camp at an oasis just a short while away from the palace. There, a few things start to happen..._**

Chapter 8: The Sands of the Desert

Ike, Ephraim, Eirika, and Seth all stood just outside of the camp, gazing out towards the sands before them as they were blown around by a ferocious wind. The sun beat down on them furiously, and Ike found himself constantly wiping his cheeks with a damp cloth, everybody else doing the same thing as they stood in the desert.

"Wow..." said Ike, who was panting the most rigorously in the desert. "I hoped never to have to return to this environment again..."

"Have you been in a desert?" asked Eirika, turning to face the mercenary.

"Once," replied Ike. "That one time was enough to convince me that I never wanted to come to a place like this ever again."

Ephraim chuckled, the wind settling just a little as the sound came out of his throat.

"I take it you don't like places like these, then..." said the king.

"That's what I just said," Ike pointed out, holding finger towards the king as he spoke. "I sure hope nobody else is caught in this mess."

"As do I," said Seth, also wiping his forehead with a damp cloth.

However, as the sands abated their bite somewhat, Ike suddenly noticed a strange female form stepping through the sands with only a small bundle on her back and with a rather bulky man holding an axe following her. Ephraim looked up and squinted, a curious expression coming to the king's face as he spoke.

"That can't be L'arachel..." said Ephraim.

"I don't think it is..." added Ike. "But what's she doing out here?"

"Whatever it is, we should make sure she's safe," said Eirika, who began walking forward and calling out to the two travellers.

"Eirika, what are you--?" began Seth, running after the queen.

Ephraim grunted annoyedly, turning to Ike and shrugging.

"Well, don't just stand there," said Ike as he made to follow the queen. "Go with her!"

Ike had then followed Seth too, leaving the king to grunt annoyedly before running after Ike. As Ike finally got there, he got a somewhat strange glance from the figure he had seen, her rich black yes penetrating into his very soul and her equally black braid fluttering in the wind a little. The man next to her gave the mercenary a good look with battle-hardened gray eyes, strands of blonde whisping in the wind as he looked over the rest of the group as well.

"There seems to be nothing wrong with them, my dear," said the guardian, his booming voice penetrating the light breeze of the desert. "It seems they are very concerned about your health in this blasted desert."

"Alyosha, do I have to keep telling you about what we are doing?" asked the woman. "Nobody must know of my mission!"

"Mission?" asked Eirika. "This is why you are alone here, out in the desert, where you are vulnerable to being attacked by the enemy?"

"Yeah, really," added Ike. "Shouldn't you be under better guard if that's the case?"

"Alyosha is capable enough," replied the lady softly. "He can guard me from the most hideous beasts in the entire land at once!"

"But why alone?" asked Ephraim. "Why are you alone out here, where you are so vulnerable?"

"Because it is for my safety," replie the lady, who began pacing around the group of four.

"My dear, should you really be telling them your plan?" asked the man who was guarding the lady.

"You doubt our worth?" asked Seth.

"I have been sent to Rausten on orders of my village elders," said the lady softly. "All the way from the very south-most part of Jehanna."

"All the way from there?" asked Ike, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

"Why not to the royal palace?" asked Seth.

"Indeed," added Eirika, azure eyes shining in concern. "Joshua and Natasha would have been more than happy to keep an eye on you."

"There were too many risks in the future there," replied the lady. "They say there is a hut in western Rausten that stands on chicken's legs, and that there is a powerful woman who can protect me..."

"The hut on chicken's legs?" asked Ephraim, lurching forward. "But that was a legend!"

"The hut on chicken's legs?" asked Ike, repeating the king's question word for word. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Legends in Rausten talk about a very old lady who rode a mortar and lived in a hut that stood on chicken's legs," replied Ephraim. "But it was just legend..."

"The elders think otherwise, then," replied the guardian. "She is being sent to this hut, and I am meant to guard her until she finds the hut. Then, I am free to go wherever I chose."

"Wherever you choose?" asked Seth.

"Then maybe when you are done with your portion of the quest, maybe you could join us," added Eirika. "We just lost two of our own to those spirits, and we could use another person."

The bulky man frowned in concentration, and after standing there considering the question he nodded.

"I will consider your proposal," replied the man. "If you must know who I am, I am Alyosha, and I will think about your proposal."

"And who is the lady?" asked Ike. The bluntness of his question earned him a dirty look from Alyosha, the lady clearing her throat to speak.

"I cannot reveal my name," said the woman. "However, I do wish you speed on your quest to... What exactly are you doing?"

"Oh, we're trying to rid the continent of these spirits," said Ephraim with a tinge of pride in his voice.

"There are other forces at work," said the woman vaguely, turning around as she faced back north. "The spirits will never truly leave until you attack the core. All the same, I wish you luck on your quest, and may the light of Saint Latona light your way."

"Thank you," said Eirika, bowing down to the woman. "And I hope you do find this strange hut that you seek."

The mysterious woman nodded in acknowledgement of the wish, and then she turned sharply to Alyosha.

"Come, Alyosha," she commanded somewhat icily. "Let's go."

And with this, the lady trod forward more into the dense desert in front of them, the two figures dissapearing in the horizon as the sun began to set.

"So you're just going to let them leave like that?" asked Ephraim suddenly, gesturing in the direction Alyosha and the strange lady had walked towards.

"Their will seems hard to break," replied Eirika. "I have no choice."

"At any rate, we shouldn't be staying here," said Seth. "Let us return to camp before the sun sets."

"Yeah," said Ike as he walked back towards the camp behind the Silver Knight.

The twins looked at each other, Eirika's soft look trying to pry into the hard skeleton that her brother's eyes hid behind. After a while, he sighed heavily, and then the two of them walked back to the camp, their footsteps heavy as the winds began to pick up, sending grains of sand flying this way and that and sending everyody's hair all over the place.

* * *

Ike sat back in their tent again, Ike holding on to Maria's body as she looked blankly ahead of her with eyes etched with worry. The mercenary said nothing, only giving the cat laguz the occasional loving squeeze as the two of them sat in the bed. Neither was in the mood to do much of anything, so instead they relished in each other's company. They had been sitting in silence for the entire night, neither of them feeling very tired.

Finally, Maria opened her mouth to say something to the mercenary.

"Ike, can I ask you something?" she asked, her hands taking hold of Ike's hands as they rested against her waist.

"What is it?" asked the mercenary, his head resting on the laguz' shoulder as he spoke.

"You're not going to let those spirits take me away the way they did to Fiordiligi and L'arachel, are you?" asked Maria.

Ike chuckled softly, planting a chaste kiss on Maria's cheek quickly.

"Of course not," he replied. "Stay next to me, and I'll protect you with everything I have..."

There was a brief silence between the two of them as Ike pulled Maria closer to her. The cat laguz melted into his embrace, their heads resting against each other. Maria seized an opportunity to kiss the man she loved, and so a very quick kiss was left planted on the mercenary's own cheek.

"Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?" asked Ike.

Maria's lavender orbs suddenly casted towards the floor, almost as if she was unsure of what to say next. When Ike got no response, he simply left another kiss on Maria's cheek.

"Hey," said the mercenary. "I love you, and no matter what you do I'll still be here for you. So what's up?"

Silence. Maria shifted her figure in Ike's arms so that she was facing the mercenary, their bodies pressed up against each other and her hands resting on the mercenary's shoulders. She looked down at the floor in hesitation before looking back at the mercenary.

"I've been thinking lately..." said Maria, hesitating on her word choice a little. "I'm just a little afraid about something..."

"Go on..." said Ike, hoping to help the woman he loved in her time of trouble.

"What if I get pregnant with your child?" asked Maria. "I'm not going to be able to transform. And when I can't do that..."

"You're worried about how you'll fight then?" asked the mercenary simply, concerned cobalt gazing into uncertain amethyst as he spoke.

"That's partly it," said Maria. "But there's more. I've been thinking about asking Seth or Cormag to learn how to use a lance. In secret. But I don't want to offend you or anything..."

"Hey, hey, hey..." said Ike, patting Maria's back as he spoke. "Don't worry about that part. If you think you should do it, go ahead. I'll be right behind you the whole way."

Maria was silent before the mercenary felt himself surrounded by Maria's arms. The cat laguz took Ike just a little off-guard, and she wasted no time in delivering a very fast kiss to the lips.

"Thanks, Ike," said Maria.

After she said this, she let out a soft yawn, eyes drooping just a little.

"Tired?" asked Ike.

"Am I ever..." replied Maria, letting go of Ike and laying down onto the mat that they both shared now.

Ike nodded and laid down next to the cat laguz, his arm resting over Maria's waist as he looked at the laguz with a smile on his face.

Eventually, the two of them fell fast asleep, but before he knew it Ike was thrust into another strange dream...

* * *

_Ike found himself on a blank plane, nothing being in the plane except for Ike himself. He blinked a few times to make sure he was not seeing things._

_However, just as soon as he was certain he was seeing things, a group of thirteen dresses suddenly materialized in front of his vision. He rubbed his eyes again to make sure he was not seeing things that were not there. Slowly, the delicate figures of twelve beautiful ladies appeared within the fabric, dancing around as if they were on a stage being serenaded to strange music._

_Perplexed at this development, the mercenary stepped forward, the white dresses whirling around as he saw the faces of the women. He looked at the blonde hair of one of the maidens for a few seconds before he recognized who it was he was looking at._

_"Fiordiligi...?" asked the mercenary slowly._

_The lady did not answer, instead opting to dance around a strange pillar of light on the floor._

_Fiordiligi's face was the only lady he recognized amongst the ladies dancing around. There was a woman with bright blue hair and a bubbly-looking face who danced next to the lady, and there were four ladies with varying shades of hair color that danced around as well. The rest of the ladies that materialized had indistinguishable features that were blurred strangely to obscure their identities._

_Ike looked to one of the dresses to find a mysterious staff that stood in the place of one of the ladies. Confused, Ike followed the staff around._

_However, a familiar glint of brown hair suddenly caught his attention, and when he turned around he saw a pair of faces that was so familiar to him he was shocked that they were in his dream._

_Before he could call out their names, however, the staff that danced with the ladies suddenly transformed into a woman that radiated light from her very being, and suddenly a glimmer of light above her body was seen bearing down on all of the ladies. The woman suddenly went behind Ike, all of the other women following suit._

_Confused, Ike took a step forward to find that all of the women did the same thing in synchronicity. He took another step forward to find that the ladies did the same thing he did._

_Casting a confused glance at the ladies, he then jumped up into one of the acrobatics routines he normally did when he wielded his sword. When he turned around, he was shocked to find thirteen ladies doing exactly the same thing he was doing down to the last twitch of his foot. As a plus, when they landed they all turned around to face behind them._

_Before the mercenary could say anything else, however, the ladies suddenly dematerialized and the familiar gray space took hold of him again._

_"You have the second key to this puzzle now," said the same old voice in his head. "Go now, and seek the seer. He will tell you about the danger this continent faces. I pray you may--"_

And it was then that Ike woke up to the sound of a sharp whistle that literally sent the tent flying away.

Maria woke up insantly as well, the two of them violently bolting up into a sitting position and covering their ears as the whistle penetrated the very fibers of their beings.

As soon as the whistle ended, Maria was quick to take her hands off of her ears, eyes shut tight as she screamed as loudly as she could.

"What the hell was that?" she cried out, the screaming sounding like a whisper in comparison to the harsh whistle they had just heard.

Maniacal laughter was suddenly heard, and Ike and Maria both stood up quickly, the cat laguz transforming with lavender fur standing on end as Ike grabbed Ragnell (which somehow had not been blown away).

"I think you two lovebirds ought to keep your heads out of each other's faces and into the action around you!" came a voice from a strange being that appeared right in front of them.

What they saw before them was a man with feathers that covered his body. He had wings growing from his back, with a pair of arms just under those wings. The beak was uncannily similar to Gaston's beak whenever he was transformed, and the feathers were of an uneartly golden hue.

"W-what the hell are you?" asked Ike loudly as he turned around to look at his surroundings to find nobody running to them and all of the tents laying around in torn-up bits. "And where the hell is everybody?"

"Oh," replied the man, brushing his feathers off almost mockingly as he spoke. "They'll be out for a good two hours. I'm surprised you two aren't unconscious."

"You mean, that was meant to knock us out?" asked Ike incredulously, showing it with a very surprised facial expression. "What the hell are you?"

"Oh, now, that isn't very nice!" nagged the strange man, circling around Ike and wagging his finger at the mercenary. Maria trailed his every move with her eyes, ready to pounce on him if anything seemed fishy. "You should learn to call me Solovey, really. You'll regret it in the future."

"Okay, then, _Solovey_," said Ike, who had by then regained enough of his composure to reply with an angry snarl. "There's only one reason I can see you being here. And if you think you're getting away with any more kidnappings, I'll never let you get away with it!"

"Oh, so you think I serve that monstrosity, eh?" asked the man, who suddenly got so close to Ike the mercenary was able to feel Solovey's rancid breath on is neck. "Well, I don't go into anybody's affairs but my own."

"Monstrosity?" asked Ike, suddenly confused. "What are you--?"

"What I did come here for, though, was to steal some of your stuff," interrupted Solovey, who then took several steps away from Ike. "But since you're still here, that leaves me to deal with you two. I think this'll be easy enough without the whistle..."

"Then bring it on," said Ike, raising Ragnell high in the air as Maria prepared to pounce on the man.

The thief nodded before he leapt into the air, flying up and diving in their direction. Ike waited until the last possible moment, and then he rolled out of the way of the dive. As soon as the mercenary was back on his feet, he swung his sword, sending out a wave of air at the spirit that rushed towards him at a rapid speed. Despite this, the birdman still managed to dodge this, and he had swooped back down to the ground to tackle Ike.

However, he forgot about Maria, so when he was knocked over and tackled to the ground by the cat laguz, surprise took hold of his eyes.

This surprise was only momentary, however, as suddenly the cat laguz felt feet being placed firmly against her stomach. Before she could react, she was suddenly vaulted over the head of Solovey. Thankfully, she managed to land on her feet, and then she growled at the birdman angrily. As Solovey stood up, the mercenary prepared his blade.

"Not bad," said the birdman sardonically. "I expected worse from a guy with a sword that's too big for him and his cat who likes to jump all over the place."

Ike's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, the anger in him beginning to rise.

Without warning, Ike dove straight for the birdman, and then he began hacking away at the bird. Somehow, Solovey managed to dodge every single strike that was sent towards him, but he was still very surprised to find that the speed at which Ike swung at him was much faster than he expected.

Finally, after a minute or so of dodging attacks, Solovey managed to punch Ike squarely in the chest, sending the mercenary flying back a few feet into the remains of a tent. Ike grunted as he slowly stood up afterwards, glaring maliciously at the thief as he rose.

"Well, I must say that was much better than I thought it would be," said Solovey with an expression of genuine surprise on his face. "I never thought somebody could wield anything that size so damn fast. Where did you get such power?"

"My sword is blessed by the goddess Yune," said Ike, raising his blade into battling position. "I am Ike of the Greil Mercenaries, and you will learn never to mock me with such snide remarks!"

Ike suddenly dashed forward again, sending a huge slash at the thief. However, Solovey jumped to the side and dodged the respective slash that was delivered at him. He made to kick him when suddenly Maria pounced on him, her mouth biting down into the birdman's leg.

"Yeow!" yelled Solovey. "Easy there, kitty!"

Ike took this as his chance, and so he lunged forward, intending to stab the thief with the blade.

However, being the crafty thing that he was, Solovey managed to jump out of the way even with Maria's mouth keeping a vice grip on his leg. He then spun around so fast that Maria was sent flying away in a random direction after a while of this twirling around. Ike had to jump back to avoid the resulting kick motion that almost nailed him in his extremities, and then he raised Ragnell in a block to deflect a punch that sailed straight at him.

The thief's face cringed in pain as his fist connected with the hard metal of Ragnell, and suddenly he yelled and shook his hand wildly, jumping around and screaming as he shook his hand around.

"Hmph," said Ike, preparing the final blow against Solovey quickly. "At least I don't gloat about myself and fail miserably..."

Before Ike could lunge at the creature, however, Solovey let out a scream of pain, one of his wings falling off of his body and onto the ground. The birdman flew around, red seeping down his back as he yelled out in pain.

Solovey suddenly realized he should leave, and so, in a flash of light, the robber dissapeared from sight.

Ike sent a perplexed gaze at where Solovey had dissapeared, Maria shifting into her human form and walking up behind him with the same look on her face.

Before either of them could say a thing, Ike felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked to his right to see a thin man with long red hair running down over his shoulders, the top of his head adorned in a funny looking hat.

"Are you two okay?" asked the strange man, his pair of rubies shining in the morning light.

"We're fine," said Ike, shaking his head as a woman who wore a long white dress came out from behind him with a staff. She raised it in the air, but before she could do anything else, Maria held her hand up.

"No, seriously," said Maria. "We didn't get hurt too badly. No scratches or cuts, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, that is certainly good," said the woman, who then let down her staff. "Most people that encounter that... thing... usually wind up pretty badly scarred."

"Really?" asked Ike, posing perplexedly. "I'm really not sure what that means, because we got him pretty quickly."

"Well, sneakiness on my part did help..." added the red-headed man as he turned to look at the devastation around him. "Hm. Looks like he whistled at you."

"I noticed," said Maria. "That damn whistle woke us up!"

"It's a strange whistle, really," said the red-headed man. "If you're asleep, it causes you to nearly lose your sense of hearing, and if you're awake, you fall unconscious."

"I've even seen a few cases where people have died to that whistle," added the woman, blonde hair fluttering in the wind as she spoke.

"Died?" asked Maria, she and Ike suddenly putting on surprised expressions on their faces. "Are you serious?"

"Very," replied the woman. "I see you came with a bunch of other people."

"Yeah," said Maria resuming a normal position. "We were headed over to the capital of Jehanna with--"

"'Ey!" yelled a familiar Cockney voice from the distance. "Wet 'appened 'ere? Dis ain't good fer none ef us!"

Ike turned in the direction of Willie's voice.

"Hey, Willie!" shouted Ike. "Is that you?"

The yelling abruptly stopped, and then suddenly Willie appeared running towards the two of them.

"Ike!" exclaimed Willie as he ran up to the mercenary. "Me 'ead be killin' me, an' I cen't foind dem 'ealers nowere!"

"Don't you worry then," said the lady, who held up her staff. It lit up with the blue light, and then Willie stood there, feeling the refreshing feeling coursing through his system.

But he did not move because he was struck with a vein of familiarity with the lady's person. There was a brief silence where the two of them just stared at each other.

Finally, Joshua groaned and nudged the boy lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey, don't you go checking out my wife, okay?" asked the man with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Wet?" asked Willie, stepping back and shrugging. "I ain't chekin' noone out!"

"It's just that she looks so similar to a friend of ours," said Maria. "That's what it is."

"Oh," said the man, backing away in shame. "Where is she then?"

"She got kidnapped by those damn spirits," replied Ike.

"Oh," said the two strangers, nodding their heads in understanding.

Footsteps approached them, and then the five of them found the figure of Eirika walking towards them. Next to her was Seth, and they were literally walking right next to each other. Eirika's slight limp betrayed the fact that something was wrong with her leg, and the fact that one of her arms was draped over Seth's broad shoulders and that the Silver Knight was partly supporting his lady meant that something was wrong.

"Oh, milady Eirika!" said the stranger in the white dress suddenly as she ran to the queen. "What happened?"

"I think a pole fell on my leg," said Eirika. "And apparently, the force of it was enough to break it!"

"On it!" said the healer without any delay. She raised her staff, which let off the familiar blue glow. As soon as she was done, Seth relieved some of the weight on his shoulders, and when Eirika found she could stand again the rest of her arm slid off of Seth's shoulders.

"Thank you, Natasha," said Eirika with a quick bow.

"'Ey, wait jus' one minute 'ere!" exclaimed Willie before the healer could open her mouth to reply. "'Ow de yeh no dese blokes dat we only just met?"

"Oh!" said Eirika, running to the man quickly. "This is king Joshua of Jehanna! And that was his wife Natasha that just healed me."

Ike, Maria, and Willie all stood there with their mouths agape, staring at the red-headed man that looked like nothing more than a gruff mercenary.

"_You're_ the king of Jehanna?" asked Maria incredulously.

"Of course," replied Joshua almost nonchalantly. "What made you think otherwise?"

"Well, sir, with a name like 'Joshua', I kind of expected a little more than this," said Ike.

"Well, to your defense, he did go around the continent as a mercenary for several years," said Eirika.

"Yep," said Joshua. "And there were plenty of coin tosses in between."

"Oh, dear..." said Maria, who suddenly slapped her palm against her face and shook her head. "And you gamble, too..."

"What?" asked Joshua. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Yes, there's a problem with that!" exclaimed Maria. "What don't you see wrong about it?"

"Well, let me put it this way," replied the king of Jehanna, pulling a coin out from a pouch in his pants, flipping it, and catching it with his hand. "When you've got nothing better to do, you can always see if Lady Luck's on your side today. Heads or tails?"

"W-what?" asked Maria. "Why are you asking me to call a side of the coin? This is not very good for somebody who's a king like you! Why the hell did you even leave your castle for so long, anyway?"

"Girl, one thing you find as a king is that it's easier to rule when you know what the people want," replied Joshua. "That's why I left the castle when I did. Now, heads or tails?"

Maria removed her palm from her face before looking at the coin, considering the question briefly before looking at the king, his ruby orbs connecting with her amethyst eyes.

"Heads," she said determinedly.

"Okay, then that means I call tails," said Joshua.

And with a flick of his thumb, the coin was sent up in the air, performing a countless number of flips as it fell down to earth. Joshua caught the coin, his hand closing over it with a fist before he undid his fist, looking down at the coin and looking at Maria.

"Lady Luck is on your side," said the king simply. "Eh, it's nothing new. I guess Lady Luck is always bound to be on the side of the guy who calls the other side of the coin..."

"Ha, see?" cried Maria, pointing at Joshua naggingly as she sniggered almost triumphantly. "That's what you get for gambling so much!"

"Maria, calm down," said Ike. "I don't think he takes very kindly to that kind of nagging..."

"Naw, don't worry about it," replied Joshua with a wave of his hand. "I've seen some people that go right ahead and chop your head off if you nag at them like that. I'm nowhere near that bad."

This comment left Maria dumbfounded, and it literally stopped her in her tracks as she suddenly gaped at the man with shock written all over her face.

"Anyways, we should not linger here," said Joshua. "That desert sun is quite a problem, as you well know by now."

"Yes," said Eirika. "Let's get everybody to a safer place, and we'll work out what to do from there."

The people of the group nodded before they went through the entirety of what used to be their camp ground, finding lots of people unconscious as they searched and searched for everybody else.

* * *

As soon as they had walked into castle Jehanna, Ike sat by Kuranga's bedside, waiting for the dragon to wake up from his rather long sleep. From time to time, he would glance up at the clay walls and hope that the dragon would wake up quickly before looking down onto the dragon's face. The dragon's black hair always scared Ike somehow, though, and when it did, he would look away again.

When Ike was beginning to wonder if the man was already dead, he suddenly heard a groan from the dragon. The mercenary looked at the dragon suddenly as his scarlet orbs opened.

"W... where am I?" aske Kuranga as he sat up.

Kuranga suddenly found himself staring at Ike in the face. His face bent in anger, and the dragon snarled at Ike.

"You stay away from Maria, you hear?" asked the dragon angrily. "I won't let you hurt her at all!"

"Whoah, Kuranga!" said Ike, standing up and waving his hands around. "Calm down! I'm not going to hurt her!"

"She'll have child, that's what!" said Kuranga angrily. "And you'll be the father of a piece of filth!"

Ike, who was annoyed at Kuranga's needless display of aggression, sighed before looking at the dragon.

"Look, Kuranga, if this is about Maria and I, I'd never hurt her," said Ike. "And if you say she'll have child, I'm sure it'll be consentual, got it?"

"To hell with consent!" said the dragon. "Stay away from her!"

"No." said Ike, voice taking a vicious edge as he spoke. "I'm not going to let your fear get in the way of our happiness. And if that means I have to disregard everything you say, then so be it. Because I won't let some crazy man who thinks he is the most vital man in the group control my line of thinking or Maria's line of thinking. Got it?"

"I don't understand how you could be so stubborn," said Kurnanga angrily.

"I don't see how I'm being stubborn," said the mercenary. "And actually, I was going to tell you about the dream I had last night with thirteen ladies and that same voice from the last dream, but since you're being an ass I think I'll figure it out on my own."

Ike made to walk right towards the door when suddenly he felt a tug on his cape that pulled him back to the bed.

"Do not figure your dream on your own," stated the dragon simply. "I can help you."

Ike sighed at the dragon's sudden change of mood.

"I saw thirteen ladies dancing around," said Ike. "I found Fiordiligi with them, too. I couldn't figure out who most of them were, actually, because they all had blotted faces. There were a few I recognized..."

"And what happened after that?" asked Kuranga.

"One of the dresses had a staff," said the mercenary. "That staff turned into a human that then followed every move I made. And when I say every, I mean every single move I did."

"Down to the last twitch of your foot?" asked the dragon.

"Yes," replied Ike.

The dragon nodded, piecing things together in his mind as he cast a glance down at the floor.

"The staff must be correlated with a staff in this world," said Kuranga. "If you manage to acquire it, you will get control of several things..."

"I guess that's true," said Ike. "But who are the thirteen girls I saw?"

"I have not the slightest idea," said Kuranga. "If Fiordiligi was here, we might be able to figure it out..."

"Maybe it has something to do with where she is," said Ike. "I saw Fiordiligi as one of those girls in my dream."

"It could be," said Kuranga. "Did you see L'arachel there too?"

"No," said the mercenary. "But Fiordiligi was, so that means that she's probably in a safe place."

"That is good," said Kuranga with a nod. "At least she is not being harmed right now. Is there anything else you saw?"

The mercenary shook his head, closing his eyes when he stopped.

"That is a very vague dream..." said Kuranga. "But nevertheless we might be able to figure it out if you have another such dream."

"I hope so," said Ike. "These dreams are starting to scare me a little."

"Well, you do only have one dream left to dream," said the dragon. "It will be over soon."

"That's true," said Ike as he stood up and walked to the curtain that acted as a door. "I'll see you around."

"Oh, and Ike?" asked the dragon.

Ike had parted the curtain slightly when the dragon had called to him, so he peeked back at Kuranga and looked at him.

"Yes?" asked the mercenary.

"If you ever, ever hurt Maria, I will kill you or otherwise make your life a living hell," said the dragon maliciously.

Ike shook his head, rolling his eyes at the threat.

"You should know that I'm not like that," said Ike.

And with that, the mercenary stepped out of the room and walked down the hallways back to his quarters where he was sure Maria would be waiting fresh from her first lesson with Seth.


	9. Chapter 9: Tricks of the Spirits

And we're in very good hands here. We had two references to Slavic mythology in the last chapter, and this time, they're not generic enemies! So, let's begin.

Alyosha refers to Alyosha Popovich, better known as one of the three main bogatyrs of the mythology. Basically, think of him the way you'd think of Theseus and Odysseus and all those other guys. From Wikipedia, this is what he did:

"In this bylina Alyosha Popovich and his servant, Yekim, set out for Kiev to meet Prince Vladimir. When they arrive at Kiev, Prince Vladimir is having a feast. Prince Vladimir offers Alyosha Popovich to sit next to him, but Alyosha Popovich refuses and decides to take the lowest place in the social hierarchy by sitting next to the stove (Bailey, p. 121-122). At the feast, the monster Tugarin insults the Prince by sitting between Vladimir and his wife. Tugarin also does not pray to God and gorges himself at the feast. Alyosha Popovich, who is disgusted with the way Tugarin is acting, insults the creature with stories about the deaths of a dog and a cow (Bailey, p. 122). Tugarin is provoked by these stories and throws a dagger at Alyosha Popovich. Then, Alyosha Popovich accepts Tugarin's challenge to fight. The battle takes place in an open field, and when Alyosha Popovich arrives, Tugarin is already flying in the sky on his wings made of paper. Alyosha Popovich prays for rain, and Tugarin falls to the ground because his paper wings get wet. Finally, Alyosha Popovich knocks Tugarin's head off with his staff, sticks it on a spear, cuts his body into small pieces, and presents it to Prince Vladimir's court. (Bailey, p. 122-129)."

So that's all about him. And as for that girl he was defending? I won't get into her until later...

And for the second one? That's Solovey, better known as Nightingale the Robber. This was the brigand that was a villain of a different bogatyr (who goes by the name of Ilya Muromets). He was half-human and half-bird (though how much he was part human is apparently just a bit ambiguous), and his whistle was said to level everything in sight and kill people that were just standing there doing nothing. I downpowered the whistle a little here, so you won't be seeing too many people dying, and yes, his wing does grow back eventually.

So that's all on that. With that knowledge, I give you this next chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 9: The Tricks of the Spirits

"Milord, they're here!"

"The spirits?"

"Yes! Whatever those things are!"

"Should have figured they'd show up this soon. Eh, whatever. They're on our turf, and now we've gotta show these people who's boss. Everybody! Ready your weapons!"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

Ike stood outside of the castle of Jehanna, Ragnell at the ready as he stood outside of the clay palace with Maria, Seth, Eirika, and Willie all flanking the mercenary. The cat laguz nodded before shifting into her animal form, Ike looking at Eirika and Seth as they readied their rapier and lance. Finally, Ike looked to Willie, who gave the mercenary a thumbs up sign as his way of saying that they could go on as they wanted to.

"Okay, so we go outside and defeat these spirits," said Ike. "And meanwhile, Gaston and Kuranga will be helping out."

"And as soon as Joshua gets Adhulma out of its resting place, he shall be back to help us," said Eirika. "I am very sure everything will work out just fine."

"I hope you are right, milady," said Seth. "We would be in a bad situation if we lost this battle."

"I kin see dat, Governor," said Willie.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar chirping of Bonnie from the distance, and then the linnet bird flew onto the Cockney boy's shoulder and warbling frantically.

"Whoa, calm yer bloomin' arse!" exclaimed Willie. "Wet is it?"

The linnet bird chirped a little slower this time, and Willie's expression cocked to the side in curiosity.

"Oh?" he replied. "Well den, waddye say we do?"

"What's she saying?" asked Ike. "And where has she been all this time anyways? I haven't seen that linnet bird on your shoulder since we crossed the border into Rausten."

"Oh, I sent 'er roight down Souv, I did," replied Willie.

"Into Grado?" asked Eirika. "What did you hope to find there?"

Willie opened his mouth to reply, closed it in hesitation, then shrugged and opened his mouth again.

"I den't no, mu'um," he replied. "I didn't dink somevin' was roight wit all dis, so I went roight and sent 'er down dere."

"And what did she see?" asked Seth.

Before the Cockney boy could answer, Maria snarled and their attention was turned to the sky women that were flying through the air and heading towards the group quickly.

"Tell us later," said Ike. "We've got some spirits we need to take care of."

"Gotcha, Governor," replied Willie, raising his hand in the air to cast a fireball on a moment's notice.

A moment afterwards, the sky women were very close, and Ike frowned in concentration, preparing to swing Ragnell at them.

And as soon as he was able to, the mercenary swung his blade, sending out a wave of energy that successfully managed to cut a sky woman in half.

Willie took this as a cue, and letting out a yell, he conjured a fireball that flew at another sky woman and burned her until she was nothing more but air again. The Cockney boy quickly charged up another fireball as he and the rest of the group ran forwards, Ike slashing at the air again and sending another wave of air at another sky woman. Bonnie flew right off of Willie's shoulder, sensing something was wrong with what would happen.

By this time, the spirits had begun to swoop down on them, and Gaston was now visible taking out several sky women that were still hovering in the air. As soon as the sky women were at level ground, the fight really began.

Maria took to lunging at certain sky women, getting them where it counted with a swipe of her claws and causing them to return to thin air before moving on to another one. All this, she did so fast that she was quite literally a lavender blur that caused enemies to die upon contact.

Eirika and Seth, meanwhile, were engaged in a fight with many sky women that descended upon her at once. The two of them fought with their backs to each other, cutting up the enemies in front of them with a strange kind of skill rarely found in such a strange team. The sky women still went down to either Eirika's rapier or Seth's lance, and they fought with a strange kind of chemistry not commonly found in a pair of warriors.

Willie noticed this trend as he sent fireballs flying all over te place. The Cockney boy simply shrugged, figuring that could also be something they could get to later.

Ike, meanwhile, was having no difficulty at all cutting down any sky women. He was slicing them apart at a much faster rate than Eirika and Seth were defeating them, his movements fluid and his sword seeming several sizes smaller than it actually was as he moved around cutting enemies down.

For a while, they seemed to be winning this battle, the soldiers around them being of very much help to them as they hacked away at the sky women with their axes or whatever other weapons they were using. However, as time went on, Willie noticed that there seemed to be no end to the amount of sky women that were coming down upon them. He looked up at the sky, pausing for a minute to see that the sky women were still moving about.

It was at that time that the doors of the castle of Jehanna opened with a soft boom, Joshua running out with a sword whose blade was tinted a very vibrant blue. Bonnie also flew back onto Willie's shoulder, chirping as loudly as it could over the somewhat overbearing sounds of battle as the king walked up to Willie and listened to the bird chirping.

"A spewn get?" asked Willie to Bonnie after a long bout of the bird's song. "I denno wet yer tolkin' 'bout, I don't."

"A 'spewn get'?" asked Joshua, bringing his hand up to his chin and rubbing it as he thought. "You mean a spawn gate."

"'Owever deh genteelty say it," said Willie.

"Oh dear," said Joshua, looking forward at the direction the sky women were coming in. "Willie, you're coming with me. We've got a gate we need to destroy!"

Before Willie could protest, the king grabbed the boy's wrist, and then the two of them ran off into the desert. Willie gave a small yelp as he was tugged by the larger man, Bonnie struggling to keep up with the two of them as they ran towards the center of the battle.

They had been running for around a minute when suddenly they saw a swirling purple portal hovering several feet above the ground. Joshua stopped, glancing at it for only a moment before he felt Willie crash right into him from not stopping on time, his blade falling into the sand.

"Oh, sorry Governor!" exclaimed Willie as he stood back up. "Wadde we do 'ere?"

"Don't worry about it," said Joshua as he stood up, sand sticking to some of his clothes. "Now, I need you to send the most powerful fireball you've got and aim it right in there."

"Deh most, yeh say?" asked the Cockney boy, his eyes lighting up in glee as he thought about it.

"Yes," said Joshua with a nod.

"Well den, Governor, yeh got it!" shouted Willie, holding his hand high in the air. "Avter all, it be me payback fer wen dey took de girl I'm likin'!"

Willie did not give Joshua a chance to ask what he meant, for then he let out a yell as he charged up a fireball so huge it literally took up the space of the entire warp gate. As the fireball burned several sky women that were unfortunate enough to be in the way, Willie's hand suddenly darted forward. The purple portal that was hovering in the air suddenly dissapeared with a bright flash of light as the fireball sank into it. And when the light dissipated, the reinforcements had stopped coming.

The Cockney boy suddenly felt just a little dizzy after that fireball, and so he fell onto the sands, his butt hitting the ground hard as he looked up at the sky. Seeing this, Joshua's eyes widened quite a bit and he knelt by the Cockney boy as he laid down and chuckled lightly.

"Willie, are you okay?" asked the very concerned king.

"Well, governor, if yeh ask me, I can say I ain't feelin' bad roight about now, I ain't," replied Willie, his eyes still open and his consciousness still apparent within him as he spoke.

"Good to hear," said Joshua.

Before anything else could be said, Joshua suddenly jumped up, swinging Audhulma in a wide arc that managed to cut through a sky woman that had tried to creep up on the king and failed. Joshua then turned around to find that he was surrounded by several sky women.

Smirking, the man then entered a sort of strange dance with his blade, cutting down all of the sky women surrounding him with an otherworldly kind of ease that was amazing to the eye. He simply became a crimson blur, hacking away at the sky women as one by one they all disintegrated into the air from whence they had come from.

And then, when the final sky woman had been killed, Joshua stood still for a second as Willie sat up slowly, groaning as he did.

"Wet was dat?" he asked simply. "'Ow did yeh do dat?"

"Oh, practice," scoffed Joshua as he walked over to Willie and offered him a hand.

The Cockney boy nodded with a somewhat confused expression, taking the hand as Joshua helped him back up onto his feet.

"Dank yeh, Governor," said Willie.

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Joshua. "I think the others could use our help. Let's get back over there, yes?"

Willie nodded quickly, and then the two of them ran back over to the castle of Jehanna to help Ike and the people he was taking charge of take care of the remaining sky women.

* * *

The battle had ended quickly after Joshua and Willie had stepped back into the battle. And the first place Gaston had gone was straight to Kuranga's bedside where the dragon had rested the entire time.

The dragon was still recovering from the aura shock he had experienced the other day and had opted out of the battle. So therefore, Gaston was more than happy to walk into Kuranga's quarters.

When the raven pulled up a chair, the two of them sat in silence for quite some time, Kuranga's mind seeming to be several thousands of miles away. They never really spoke when they got the chance to talk to each other in private; rather, they let the silence take hold before anybody said anything. It was out of respect more than anything, and in this particular case it was a silence that he could appreciate.

Finally, Gaston shifted in his chair a little before he spoke.

"You know those dreams I've been having?" asked Gaston. "With the lady and Maria?"

"Yes," said Kuranga. "You never remember most of the details, though."

"I had that dream last night," said Gaston. "But I remember everything the lady said now. She was being all suggestive and stuff. I still couldn't remember what Maria had said..."

"She was?" asked the dragon.

A mischievous thought suddenly crossed the dragon's mind, and Gaston did not notice the malevolent glint in his eyes as the dragon glanced at the raven.

* * *

Ike and Maria were both in Seth's company, Eirika, Cormag and Willie both walking next to the cat laguz as they walked through the surprisingly lush garden of the castle courtyard. Ike, Maria, and Willie had all been relating their tales on Greljedo to the queen of Renais and her knight, the six of them having a jolly good time of it as well.

"And den we went roight and scullied dat brat," said Willie, gesturing with fists and his arm as he spoke.

"Well, that must have been some adventure you had," said Eirika in reply. "I mean, getting to know a goddess?"

"It was pretty cool," said Maria. "Thinking about it now, there were plenty of good times to be had even if the continent was in danger of being taken over by evil people."

"That's almost what's happening here," said Cormag quickly.

"Yeah," said Ike. "Except this time we seem to have a better idea of who we're fighting here."

"I dent no, Governor," replied Willie. "Dem dreams yeh been tellin' us abut..."

"Oh, those," said Seth with a short nod. "Those can be quite a problem, yes?"

"Of course," said Maria. "Cormag."

"Yes?" asked the wyvern knight.

"I've been thinking a little lately," said Maria. "About what you did with that evil general the other day. You were so angry over Tana."

"Well, when a knight has his duties, he is bound to follow them," replied Cormag.

"I denno..." added Willie. "I'm beginnin' teh dink dat maybe wet 'e said was roight."

"Uh..." said Cormag, his mind fumbling to find a good enough excuse for them as they all sat on a bench.

"Oh, so there is something more," said Seth.

"Mayhaps you have a crush on Tana?" asked Eirika in the best voice she could muster to calm the wyvern knight down.

"I... yes, I do," said Cormag so softly that nobody could hear it.

"Aha!" exclaimed Maria triumphantly, the wyvern rider slapping himself in the face mentally for not realizing Maria could hear him. "I knew it! You did have a crush on her after all!"

"Okay, okay, I do," said Cormag, louder this time as he walked away. "But it's between a knight and a lady. How can it be right?"

"Well, you can always make things work," said Ike with a gesture. "Who knows?"

"Mebe deh mu'um feels deh same way yeh do, Governor," added Willie with a smile.

"But still, I can't help but wonder--" began the knight.

"That bitch!"

Everybody was startled by Gaston's incredibly loud yell. However, what was even more astounding to them was the fact that Gaston leapt out of a window and into the courtyard, landing right in front of Maria with the worst glare the cat laguz had ever seen.

"You..." huffed Gaston in his anger, chestnut eyes burning with pure rage. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me?"

"W-what do you mean?" asked Maria, stammering a little as she saw Gaston's fury and knew that somebody had leaked the information.

"Don't play stupid with me, you dumb bitch!" yelled Gaston, pointing his finger angrily at the cat laguz. "I know that you sold me to that lady in the forest for sexual favors!"

"Wait, Gaston, you've got this all--" interjected Ike as he stood up.

"Shut up, Ike!" screamed the raven, his scream loud enough to keep Ike from walking to Gaston. "This is between Maria and I! You don't need to be standing up for her when she knows she's wrong!"

"No, Gaston, you don't understand!" yelled Maria, clinging on to the last threads of her friendship with the raven.

"What's there not to understand, huh?" asked the raven. "I don't see how you selling me to all of those spirits has anything else to it!"

"Gaston, please understand!" shouted Maria. "It was between life and death!"

"Your life, you mean?" asked the raven angrily. "You sold her to me to save yourself? How could you be so fucking selfish?"

"Gaston, that's enough!" exclaimed Ike with as stately a voice as he could muster against Gaston's mighty fury. "Stop this now and let us explain!"

"I don't need you to explain anything to me, loverboy!" shouted Gaston.

Ike took a step back, taken aback at what the raven had just said.

"What?" asked the mercenary.

"What?" shouted Gaston, his anger mounting. "You didn't think I hadn't noticed by now? You two are never away from each other!"

"Gaston, please!" cried Maria, agitated and on the verge of tears as she fell to her knees in front of the angry raven. "Let us explain!"

"I don't need to know anything else, _bitch_," said Gaston, raising a leg and kicking Maria in the stomach. The groan of pain from the cat laguz sent Ike kneeling by her side and grabbing her shoulders.

"Gaston!" exclaimed Eirika as she saw this scene, getting progressively angrier by the minute at the raven's irrational behavior. "Stop this nonsense right now and let her explain!"

"What does she have to explain?" yelled Gaston. "I was her best friend! We've known each other since we were little, we kept all our secrets, we went under Kuranga's training together, and we even promised never to betray each other! I was kind to you!"

The raven turned to face the cat laguz, who laid on the ground frightened and about to cry any second.

"And this is how you repay me..." said Gaston through gritted teeth. "You repay me by selling me to some bitch bound on getting me completely and by going after that... that human!"

Maria let out a choked cry of anguish, Willie glancing up at the raven with a determined anger never before seen in his eyes.

"'Ey!" yelled Willie. "You be worse den dem blighters--"

"Shut up, Willie!" screamed Gaston, smacking the Cockney boy across the cheek and leaving a mark there.

The raven looked at Maria again, amber eyes once again burning in pure rage and pure hatred.

"So that's how you repay me?" asked Gaston. "I'm going back to Greljedo. Even if I die. And I'll tell everyone about how you betrayed your best friend for your own benefit! And you'll be sorry you ever fell for that lousy human, when I could've been everything you could ask for! I was your friend, Maria! I was your friend!"

"Gaston, _wait!_" exclaimed Maria, tears beginning to erupt from her eyes.

But it was too late, for then Gaston shifted to his raven form, and before anybody could blink, the raven was out of the garden, taking a flight to the west. Maria lost it at that point; she barely managed to crawl a few inches away from Ike before she completely fell down onto the sand and cried hard into it, a few grains of sand staining to her face.

Ike slowly crawled forward, tapping Maria's shoulder lightly. The cat laguz looked up, and no sooner had Ike leaned in towards the woman he loved than she literally jumped on him, sobbing her eyes out onto his shoulders. Ike, without protest, wrapped his strong arms around her torso as it rose and retreated with each sob Maria let out.

Willie felt he could not be left out of the action, so he walked over to where Maria was, kneeling down and patting her on the head with his left hand. When Maria looked up, the Cockney boy gave her a reassuring look, understanding jade gazing into sad lavender as the cat laguz pulled Willie into the hug.

Eirika, who had noticed the crowd that had walked into the garden, turned around to look at her surroundings once before frowning.

"Well, what are you standing there for?" asked Eirika authoritatively. "Clear the area at once!"

Almost instantly, the people dispersed from the garden, casting confused glances at each other as to what had just happened. Seth, Cormag, and Eirika all looked at each other, and then they too left the garden, leaving the laguz woman alone with the only two friends she was sure she had on the entire continent.


	10. Chapter 10: Memory

Damn it. There was a scene last chapter that didn't get in for some reason. Damn it!

But anyways, the shit really hit the fan last chapter. Things between Ike and Maria hit a new low afterwards, so look out below.

Also, I'm really, really, really loving it here up in BoCo. I can't explain it. I just love being here. Every minute of it.

You know the rest. Here's the chapter, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**_Gaston's sudden departure shocks Maria and catches those that witnessed the brutal happening just a little off guard._**

**_However, king Innes from Frelia sends another distress signal; now the spirits have warped into Carcino and Frelia, and they are both in dire trouble._**

**_The army wastes no time in preparing themselves for battle, setting foot from out of Jehanna with Joshua and Natasha following their every move. As the army pushes on, Kuranga's abilities return to him, and he senses three auras from Carcino and Frelia, confused as to the now increasing numbers of commanders._**

**_In the war room, the rulers of Magvel try to make some sense of what is going on..._**

Chapter 10: Memory

Ike, Joshua, Natasha, Eirika, Ephraim, and Kuranga all sat in a circle in the tent that served as their war room, the six of them sitting relatively close as they finished listening to Kuranga repeat his reading for the third time that day.

After the reading, the six sat in silence, digesting what they had heard in their minds.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," said Joshua. "You're saying that you're seeing two people in Frelia and one in Carcino?"

"Yes," said Kuranga once again. "I am unsure as to where some of them came from."

"Hm..." said Ike, rubbing his chin.

"Well, you did say there was one spirit that we should have bumped into before we went into Jehanna," said Eirika.

"But that's not likely," said Ike. "We ran into spirits in Jehanna. And I'm pretty sure Joshua defeated the commander."

"Commander?" asked the red-headed king. "The only thing special I saw was this large purple gate."

"What?" asked Ephraim. "You didn't see a commander?"

"No," said Joshua. "Willie didn't see one either."

"Then we have been decieved," said Kuranga. "That advance on Jehanna was a ruse..."

"...to take us away from the real target," said Eirika, finishing the dragon's sentence with her fingers trailing the edge of her lips.

"Damn it!" said Ephraim loudly. "They must have known we would take a risk and go to any country to save them!"

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Joshua. "Even if these guys are attacking other nations, Jehanna is still there, and we'll still be able to help. So when you think about it, it's a good thing in a way."

"But now we have to go halfway across the continent!" replied Eirika.

"I do not believe you could have done anything about it, though," said Kuranga, holding a finger up swiftly. "For that does not explain how the other two commanders arrived at where they are. So even if we did go right after that army, the other two would still have made it to Frelia."

"Oh," said Eirika. "In that case..."

"What can you do?" asked Ike. "Maybe these new forces are new recruits?"

"Quite possibly," said Kuranga with a nod. "One of them seems highly familiar, though. I do not know why..."

"We'll figure it out eventually," said Ephraim with a nod. "For now, let us assume that the general in Carcino is the one that decieved us, and the other two commanders are new."

"Right," said Natasha. "In that event, what do we do?"

"Well, since Carcino is on the way, we'll stop by there first," said Eirika. "Make sure that commander is put to justice."

"And then we get the other two commanders from there?" asked Ike.

"Essentially, yes," replied the queen. "I think we know enough about what to do to call this meeting, yes?"

"Indeed," said Kuranga. "Let us go then."

And just like that, the five people stood up and walked out of the tent, ready to check with everybody else in the camp.

* * *

"All right, that's fine. Now, aim for the center a little more and thrust!"

The sound of a lancehead hitting against a straw dummie pierced the air, and some straw fell out of the hole that Maria had punctured in rather quickly. Seth stood to the side, watching Maria stab the lance into the straw dummy

"There you go," said Seth with a clap. "Now, faster this time."

Maria let out a grunt as she thrusted the lance forward with all of her might, piercing the skin of the straw dummy again, this time just a little faster than she had before.

"Good," said Seth supportively. "Now, I want you to do a block, a slash, and a stab in as few motions as possible. Go!"

Maria suddenly brought the lance up so that she was holding both ends above her head, and then she swung the lance around her as she turned around, slashing the straw dummy in front of her with her hands holding on to the end of the lance. After the quick turn, her hands returned to the position they were when she held the lance earlier, and she thrust hard in front of her.

"Again!" barked the Silver Knight, and Maria did the same motion again, letting out a cry as she stabbed the dummy again.

"Now, I need you to block, slash, block, and stab!" he said quickly. "Go!"

Maria made a block, slashed at the straw dummy once again, made another blocking motion to her side before one of her hands completely let go of the lance and she thrust forward with all of her might, sticking the straw dummy with her lance. However, she had to bring her right foot forward to keep herself from losing balance, barely managing to stay on the ground as she let go of the lance, the dummy falling from its support.

"Better," said Seth. "You still need to work on the balance there, but otherwise you're doing quite well. I'll see you the same time tomorrow if we don't have to fight first."

"Thanks," said Maria, panting and walking up to the Silver Knight, handing him the lance she had used during the training session. "I can't believe you let me use a steel lance today."

"You're catching on better than most of the people I've ever met," said the knight. "I'm guessing the laguz senses are having something to do with it."

"Right you are," said Maria. "Even though laguz don't use weapons on Greljedo or Tellius, we still could if we wanted too."

"Why wouldn't they?" asked Seth as the two of them walked back to camp. "You have no protection against attack when you're not transformed."

"Eh, we manage," said Maria with a shrug. "Somehow, we manage to keep those guys at bay."

"I actually haven't seen you shift into your human state at all in a battle," said the knight. "Why?"

"Well, we laguz can stay transformed longer than a lot of people think," said the cat laguz. "So that's probaby why. Anyways, I'll see you around. I want to go talk to Ike."

"All right then," replied the knight. "Good day."

And the two of them went their separate ways, Maria stopping at a certain point to think about the knight.

One thing she had noticed since she had started taking lance lessons from the silver knight was that he was considerably less formal around her than he was with Eirika. This was slightly confusing to the cat laguz, but she knew that as with all romances things were not as they seemed.

So the cat figured that Seth was probably feeling something for Eirika. She would have to verify that later, though, because Ike had been the slightest bit more reserved in the past few days. Maria, being the woman he loved, was of course concerned about Ike's mind.

Shrugging, she walked over to her tent to wait for Ike to arrive so they could talk.

* * *

Willie gingerly held the cards in his hand, holding an Ace of Spades in his hand, noticing that with the rest of his cards he had apparently gotten a dud hand. He was just a little edgy about this hand, and so a bead of sweat rolled off of his forehead.

The Cockney boy was sitting in the tent of the king of Jehanna, who had been busy teaching the boy how to play poker. Now, the two of them sat from opposite ends of the tent, playing for as many gold coins as the two of them had. And thus far, the Cockney boy had been losing sorely.

And now, he had a bad hand again. Joshua rearranged some of the cards in his hand, and then he looked at Willie with a smile on his face.

"Well, then," said the king. "Let's see what you've got."

"Uh..." said the Cockney boy, a little reluctant to show the man his hand at first. "Yeh go, Governor!"

"All right then," said Joshua with a smirk as he brought his hand down to show two queens and three kings. "That's what I've got."

Willie blew some air up towards the tent-poles, the air blowing lightly against some of the strands of his brown hair as he brought his hand down.

"Kin we stop dis, Governor?" asked Willie. "I cain't get no good 'ands, I cain't!"

"Oh, quit complaining!" said Joshua, taking the cards out of Willie's hand softly. "You make small bets, and with your luck the way it is right now, that's a really smart decision. Remember we're going until one of us loses all of their money, okay?"

"I guess, Governor..." said Willie as Joshua took all of the cards in his hands and began to shuffle them. "But I den't no..."

"Okay, then, I'll tell you this," said the king. "To end this as quickly as possible, I say we bet everything we have, right now. Does that sound fine to you?"

Willie looked up at the canvas of the tent, thinking. It was true that he wanted this game of poker to end, and even though he knew he'd lose all of his money if he lost, he still wanted to stop acting like an idiot in front of the king. After considering this, the Cockney boy nodded.

"Okay then," said Joshua as he finished shuffling. "All of it into the pot!"

The two of them had all of their gold coins at their feet; thus, all they had to do was shove their piles forward into the space between them, and then the pot was set. Joshua handed five cards to Willie, and then he gave himself five cards, smirking as he looked at his hand.

The Cockney boy sighed before looking down at his cards, and seeing that he had an ace, a king, a queen, a jack, and a ten all in sequence and bearing the clubs suit. Confused, he stared at it, remembering that any cards in a row counted as a very good hand. Thinking this, Willie made a barely perceptible smirk at the king, rearranging a few cards in order before Joshua looked at him with a smile. Willie acted nervous again in front of Joshua to fool the king. There would be plenty of revenge going around.

"So, I'll go first then since my luck's been good to me," said Joshua, holding his hand out where Willie saw a pair of nines and a pair of tens sitting in Joshua's hand with the pesky jack next to the tens. "Two pairs. Show me what you have."

"Well, Governor, I got dis 'and," said Willie softly. "And I den't no..."

And then the Cockney boy brought his hand forward, showing the royal flush off to Joshua, whose face blanched before he let go of his cards.

"Oh, you lucky dog, you!" exclaimed Joshua softly with a smile. "Luck's never on my side. What did I tell you?"

"Dat ye'd lose ever'vin eventerally?" asked Willie, who was not sure exactly what Joshua had said.

"It happens at one point or another," said Joshua, gently nudging the pot over to Willie. "There you go."

"I cain't believe none ef it!" exclaimed Willie.

Without explanation, the Cockney boy jumped up and began to dance around the tent quite happily. Joshua shook his head with an amused smile at the boy's behavior, packing the cards into the little paper package that he normally kept the cards in. As the boy danced around, Joshua swept the coins into a bag he had brought with him in case Willie had won, and he then left the winnings back on the part of the tent that Willie had sat in before he had won the game of poker.

* * *

Ike sat in the tent that he and Maria shared, gazing up at the canvas of the tent. He had been distracted by thoughts that he felt he should not have been having. But they were still there, and given that the facts were the facts was till very confusing to the mercenary.

He had omitted some material he had seen in the dream when he had related it to Kuranga; however, that one detail was beginning to annoy the mercenary to no end. And no matter what he did to distract himself, nothing was working. He had resolved in his tent to tell Maria about his dilemma, but so far she had not arrived at all. He resolved to wait, however, because he knew that she eventually would arrive in the tent after a lance lesson with Seth.

And sure enough, the tent flap parted and Maria walked into the tent.

"Hey, Ike," said Maria as she entered. "Look, I've bee worried about you. You've seemed a little disturbed lately..."

"Yeah, about that," said the mercenary with a nod as the cat laguz sat down. "I've been thinking about a few things. First, about the other night. Maria, are you sure that was all right?"

"Ike, I'm not sure now," said Maria. "I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable when I transform now."

"Are you sure you're fine?" asked the mercenary.

"It'll pass, I'm sure," said the cat laguz, waving off the mercenary's worries. "I get uncomfortable all the time when I transform. Now, the second thing..."

"Oh, yes," said Ike. "That dream I had the other night with the ladies."

"Oh, that?" asked Maria. "Why should that be bothering you?"

"I didn't mention something to Kuranga," said Ike, cobalt eyes glancing down at the floor for a very brief interval of time. "There was something else in my dream. Actually, it's two of the ladies I'm talking about here."

"Fiordiligi and L'arachel?" asked Maria, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders.

"No," replied the mercenary. "L'arachel wasn't even in my dream. I'm talking about two other women that I know very well."

Maria thought for a second, and when the thought came to her mind it hit her like a bolt of lightning.

"Tellius?" asked the cat laguz. "There were women from Tellius?"

"Yes," said the mercenary with a nod. "And what's more, I know both of them very well."

"Okay..." said Maria with a strange tone of voice. "Who were they?"

"One of them was this girl," said Ike. "She's a pretty crazy lady, actually, and she's on this quest to find her one true challenger, who's clad in white. I don't understand why she thinks that one bit."

"And she knew you, how...?" asked Maria, wrapping her arms around Ike's torso.

"She was in my mercenary company for a few years," said Ike. "Her name was Mia."

"Mia," said the cat laguz softly. "And who was the other one...?"

"The other one..." said the mercenary hesitatingly. "That is the one that scares me."

"Why?" asked Maria.

"The other one is my sister..." replied Ike.

"Your sister?" asked Maria after a very brief pause. "You mean, Mist?"

"Yes," said Ike. "She was with them. I don't know why, since she'd never go to such lengths..."

"But you really think they came all the way over here?" asked the cat laguz. "Don't make me laugh!"

"Mist is pretty persistent," replied the mercenary. "If she wants something, she'll go for it."

"I see..." said Maria. "And that's what's been bothering you?"

"Yes," replied Ike. "I don't know how she got there..."

"Well, when we run into her, we'll find out," said the cat laguz, rubbing her head against Ike's neck the way a cat would. "And no matter what, I'll be here every step of the way."

"Thanks, Maria," replied the mercenary. "You have no idea how much you mean to me."

"I try my best," said the cat laguz.

Ike lifted his arm up, and then he clasped Maria's hand in his as he left a kiss on her forehead for what felt like the thousandth time in their journeys on Magvel.

* * *

Willie had gone back to looking out at the sunset again, standing quite a ways away from camp as he looked out onto the giant luminous orb that shone brightly in the distance. His eyes were a little sad as they looked out into the sunset, a strange sense of longing almost filling his eyes as he gazed out into the distance.

He had taken to looking at the sunsets ever since Fiordiligi had been kidnapped, and he did so alone. Even he was not sure why he did it alone, just that he needed to be alone for a while to think about her.

Ever since he had first laid eyes on the lady, Willie had never stopped thinking about her. He was always welcome in her company, they were such great friends, and she was oh so beautiful that the Cockney boy could not help but think thoughts about her all of the time.

Willie had just begun to realize that maybe he was falling in love with Fiordiligi. However, he was not sure about it yet, and he was intending to ask one of the people in the camp before Joshua had whisked him off to the poker game that he managed to win.

If it was love, he would not have minded at all; to him, Fiordiligi was the most virtuous and most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Willie would consider himself extremely lucky to be in love with a woman like that, and if the feelings were reciprocated, then Willie would consider himself the happiest man alive.

The gold. Willie took a look at the fat purse he had won that day with a smile and a strange gleam in his eyes. He had been thinking about getting something for her the next time they saw each other, and now for Willie the wait to see her again was unbearable. He wished more than anything to be able to see Fiordiligi again, even if only for a second.

But he knew wishing did no good, so he was content with finding something to get for the woman he was not sure he was in love with.

And with these thoughts in his head, he turned around and walked slowly back to camp.


	11. Chapter 11: The Thief and the Warrior

Holy shit! I just realized I didn't post this chapter here! Oh, I am so fucking stupid! (H.W. bangs his head against the wall.) And even worse, I can't seem to figure out how to get the DA font to get away, so the next two chapters will look extremely messy. How stupid of me!

_**Continuing forward from where they rested, the army eventually went through Rausten to get to Carcino. On the way, Kuranga's aura reading reaches a spike, and deducing one of the generals is nearby, Ephraim makes haste through the passage that goes through the town of Caer Pelyn and eventually arrives in Carcino. By the time the army arrives in the mercantile nation, Kuranga's auras have sensed that one of the forces in Frelia has moved into Carcino as well.**_

Realizing the inherent danger in this, Ephraim makes haste for the first general..._****_

Chapter 11: The Thief and the Warrior

Ike walked forward, Kuranga standing next to Ephraim as Eirika and Seth both walked next to the king. Maria was not too far behind Ike, Willie, Joshua, Natasha, and Cormag bringing up the rear as they marched through the mountainous terrain with the army in tow.

Kuranga's aura readings had been getting especially strong as they had been marching in the middle of the mercantile nation, and Ephraim followed the dragon's every step in the mountains. Ike was beginning to wonder why they were not seeing anything yet, and this thought was echoed in the minds of the rest of the group as they journeyed forth with their weapons drawn.

Finally, Kuranga stopped walking in front of a plain where dust was slowly beginning to settle after an apparently long battle. The dragon looked forward, just a little puzzle.

"Odd," he said immediately. "This is where the aura spiked, and yet there's nothing here."

"Meaning that somebody beat us to the punch..." said Ephraim. "But who?"

Ike looked around to find the puddle of grey matter that was the former general. The mercenary walked towards the puddle and knelt down, looking at the mass in wonder as Maria, Joshua, Eirika, Seth, and Willie all gathered around, Ephraim and Kuranga following shortly afterward.

"So somebody killed the general here..." said Ike. "But who?"

"This is strange," said Eirika, who had glanced up and noticed nobody else standing around. "An entire battlefield, destroyed by something. But there's no friendly army in sight..."

"Dis be mighty strange, mu'um," said Willie. "I don't get novin' about dis."

"Hmph. Idiots. I even left the battlefield the way it was after I was done with it and you still couldn't figure it out!"

Ike and Maria both twitched violently, everybody looking in front of them abruptly as the form of a man with feathers and wings appeared in front of them.

"Solovey!" exclaimed Ike and Maria simultaneously.

"Well, somebody knows who I am," said the prankster with a slight smile. "At least I had some kind of welcome party."

"So it was your whistle that decimated this entire army..." said Joshua.

"Oh, you," said the thief, trailing closer to Joshua and sizing him up quickly with deft silver eyes. "You, who decided to chop my wing off. Too bad it already grew back."

"W-what?" asked Maria. "But how? I saw him chop it right off!"

"You can see it right here, cat girl!" replied Solovey, striding up to the cat laguz so fast that she blinked at the proximity of the wing to her body. She literally had to take a step back as she looked at the wing, it looking good as new.

"H... how?" asked Ike.

"Because I'm just that good," replied the thief with a smirk before walking back a little. "And now that I see the rest of your party awake, I can see that you're pretty... spread out. I mean that in a good way. I mean, who would've thought that a king and a guy that was picked off of the streets would be such great company to each other?"

"'Ey!" yelled Willie angrily. "Don't yeh go tolkin abut dat, yeh 'ear? It ain't never rong!"

"I never said it was wrong," replied Solovey slyly. "I just said it was interesting."

"And what the hell are you here for?" asked Ike. "To steal stuff?"

"That's right," said the thief. "And on top of that, it's from your enemy, so you better be grateful!"

"And how do we know it was you?" asked Eirika, teal eyes burning in determination and a slight annoyance at Solovey's behavior!

"Whoah, chill girl!" said Solovey, who waved his hands in a placative motion. "There used to be mountains here, and my whistle, as you know, is really powerful, so I--"

"--Destroyed them with your whistle?" asked Seth, completing the thief's question for him. The strange creature looked at the knight for a moment with a curious expression before letting out a laugh.

"Thank you," said Solovey, bowing to the knight. "Finally, somebody who has an ounce of intelligence here!"

"Hey!" yelled everybody else, offended at this word choice.

"What?" asked Solovey with a shrug. "You all know its true! Anyways, I just came here to steal their stuff. I'm glad especially about this, since I actually managed to steal from people I don't like at all. Especially not their leader."

"Their leader, sir?" asked Seth. "So there is another person pulling the strings is what you are saying."

"I'm surprised you haven't thought about that," said the thief, wagging his finger at the group.

"We haven't been giving much thought to it," replied the knight with a nod. "We have more been trying to keep the spirits from causing chaos within the continent."

"Well, then, you'll have to go for the leader, you know," said Solovey. "You'll probably find him running around the southern part of the continent during the day. Like, all the way south"

"I beg your pardon, sir, but all the way south?" asked Eirika briefly. "That is a no-man's land! For a master of a realm to base himself there is madness!"

"Well, there's something there whether you choose to believe in it or not," said Solovey as he paced in front of the group. "But you can go ahead and tackle the other ones first. But when he comes around with a bunch of other fellows, then I'm running straight to you and saying that I told you so."

Ike instantly looked at the ground, the gears of his mind beginning to move as Maria looked at the mercenary, wondering what he might be thinking.

"So you know what is going on here?" asked Seth. "Can you tell us what's going on?"

"Oh, no, I can't do that," said the thief. "For you see, I'm a thief, and my word can't be trusted, right?"

"I never said that," replied the knight almost indignantly. "I just wish for at least a clue!"

The birdman stopped to think for a second, and then he clicked with his beak before his hand went to rubbing the bottom of his beak in thought.

"You're an interesting character," said Solovey. "What's your name?"

"Seth, the Silver Knight of Renais," replied Seth.

"Seth..." said Solovey, who walked in front of the man with almost haughty silver eyes. "I'll remember that name, since you seem pretty important. Okay then. Here's your first clue."

Seth suddenly felt something get shoved onto his chest, and when he held his hands up against his chest instinctively he found himself holding a pendant with thirteen jewels embedded in the jewelpiece and a strange alphabetic character in the middle of the jewels in a language he could not understand.

"What's this?" asked Seth.

"I'm pretty sure dragon man over here can help you with that one," said the thief with a nod. "Hell, even Mr. Mercenary over here can help if he's up for it!"

Ike was a little disracted by his thoughts, so that when he heard himself mentioned, he turned his head around almost violently as he looked at the thief.

"You said something?" asked Ike.

"Not to you," said Solovey with a slight sneer in his voice. "But that's okay, since you'll figure out how what I said relates to what I'm saying no matter what. Anyways, I'll leave you with that little clue. Now, this thing has all the keys to the puzzle; you just need to figure out how they fit together and you've got why this whole thing is going on."

The birdman winked at Seth before walking backwards.

"And now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off," he said. "See ya!"

Before anybody else could say anything, Solovey dissapeared in a bright flash of light, leaving everybody there for a few seconds to wonder what had just happened.

Finally, Willie felt the urge to sneeze, and he let out a terrible sneeze that broke the silence.

"Well," said Ephraim. "That was very... strange..."

"At least the last time we met him, he was more explicit than this!" said Maria, waving her arms around dramatically as she spoke. "What could this man want with us?"

"Well, if one thing's for sure, he isn't really our enemy," said Joshua.

"We must get this inspected right away!" said Seth. "Kuranga, Ike, you will have to help me here."

"Not now," said the dragon. "Later, when camp is set up and we have more privacy."

"All right then," said Ephraim. "I'll go tell them they can camp here for the night."

Without giving anybody a chance to second-guess this decision, the king went to the army, and the knight shrugged before looking back at the pendant, getting a feel for its features and wondering what they could mean.

Everybody had sat down to council in the tent later that day, the pendant Solovey had left them lying in the middle as everybody else sat around it in a circle.

They had just sat down and had begun to look at the pendant's details, trying to see if they could glean some details from the pendant just by looking at it.

Finally, Ephraim, who had taken charge of the meeting, cleared his throat, and everybody's thoughts were suddenly taken away at this slight motion from the king of Renais. He stood up and looked down at this pendant.

"Okay," said Ephraim, teal eyes concentrated on the spot before him. "We have this pendant here with thirteen jewels on it and a strange symbol on it. Now, Ike, can you tell us anything from your dreams that relates to that?"

"I haven't seen the strange symbol at all," said Ike. "But there was this one dream where there were thirteen maidens dancing around, and then they just began following me for no reason."

"Thirteen maidens..." said Eirika, thinking about this as she looked at the symbol.

Everybody was lost in thought before Cormag snorted unamusedly.

"Seems that those thirteen ladies have something to do with this," said Cormag plaintively.

"But what?" asked Natasha quickly. "What role do they play in this scheme?"

"I'm not sure," said Joshua. "But one thing I'm sure of is that these things have been kidnapping nothing but women since this whole thing began."

"Women..." said Seth, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe the women that have been kidnapped have a role to play in these strange happenings as well..."

"Well, now that you mention it, I did see Fiordiligi as one of the thirteen women," added Ike. "Maybe there is some link."

"But what link is it?" asked Eirika. "They must have captured every fair maiden on this continent besides Natasha and myself, and they're still not happy!"

"Maybe it's a specific thirteen..." said Joshua.

The tent was silent, save for people scratching their heads to figure out what was before them.

"Then that would explain why all these kidnappings have been happening," said Ephraim. "They need a specific thirteen, so they hunted the entire continent for them."

"And they probably still haven't found those thirteen yet, which is why we're still running into these guys," said Maria.

"So the thirteen jewels refers to the thirteen maidens that are needed for something," said the king of Renais with a nod. "Now, what do they want with those ladies?"

"Obviously something important," said Eirika as she looked at the pendant. "They would not be doing something such as this for no apparent reason at all."

"There was something else, too," said Ike. "There was this one lady that was actually in staff form before it was turned into a woman..."

"So it's actually, twelve, and the thirteenth woman is trapped in a staff is what you're saying," said Seth inquisitively.

"I think so," said Ike. "It was around the point that the staff turned into the lady that they followed me around..."

"So that must be it," said Cormag with a slight shine in his eyes. "The women are needed to turn that staff into a woman, and she does what you want."

"I don't see the point of doing that for some people to follow you faithfully the rest of your life, though," said Maria. "So it's probably the other way around."

"As in she'll grant you your every wish?" asked Seth.

"Yes," said Maria.

"Well, then, the twelve maidens are needed to awaken a thirteenth maiden so that somebody can get a wish granted," said Ephraim with a nod. "Seems comprehensive enough to me."

"Okay," said Ike. "But then, there's that strange symbol there..."

"Ike, are you sure you didn't see that?" asked Maria.

"Yes," replied the mercenary. "I swear I didn't."

"Well, at least we have some idea of what is going on," said Ephraim. "When we have further details, we will meet again. Dismissed!"

Seth walked forward and took the pendant, everybody suddenly convering amongst themselves as the meeting came to an end.

Maria held the lance in her hand, her movements very rapid as she fenced with Seth.

The two of them had found an area within the mountains decimated by Solovey with which to work with, and for the day's lesson the Silver Knight decided that it would be a good idea for Maria and Seth to spar against each other. The two of them were trading blows with their lances, Maria and Seth both seeming to try their hardest.

Maria was still not as good as her teacher, as the fact that Seth managed to win against the cat laguz several times. However, the thing the knight noticed when he was facing off against Maria was that she was able to pull off a surprise that caused her to win that particular set. He also found that he won most sets of bouts only after a bit of a hardship and a few stupid mistakes on Maria's part. Their swings and clashes provided plenty of sounds, and the knight felt that his student really was learning well from the fact that Maria was proving to be a formidable foe.

Finally, the two of them had finished fighting after a particularly rough bout, and the two of them stood there panting, the fact that they were tired clearly showing in them. The tense silence that followed was finally broken when Seth dropped his lance where he stood.

"That's... enough for now..." said the Silver Knight, the sweat rolling down his face as he and Maria both sat on a log, the knight taking the canteen he had brought with him and drinking from it.

"You're telling me..." said Maria. "I never thought I'd ever be that good."

"You're learning... really fast," said Seth. "Pretty soon I'm not sure I'll keep up with you. Is this how Willie learned to chant magic?"

"No," replied Maria. "He struggled really badly through learning chants, I'm telling you. But he pulled through just in time to help us. Actually, I wanted to ask you something that's been bugging me for a while."

"What is it?" asked the knight.

"It's about Eirika," said the cat laguz. "Whenever you're around her, you're always stiff and, in a way, too careful with what you say. And yet here, you act like you're not under pressure."

"I shouldn't answer that," said Seth, turning to face away from the cat laguz.

"Hey!" replied Maria indignantly. "I asked you a question, and you try to avoid it? I asked, and when I ask something I do it because I need it!"

"And what do you need it for?" asked Seth.

"My own personal curiosity," replied Maria. "Now answer the question!"

"But if it's for yourself, why are you asking?" asked Seth. "It seems pretty invasive of you to ask questions like that at a time like this."

"Excuse me?" cried Maria, standing up with her canteen still in hand. "Me, being invasive? I think you obsess over Eirika a little bit too much myself! You're next to her even if she doesn't need to be guarded! Damn it, Seth! I just want to know why you're around Eirika so much yet can't seem to be yourself!"

A somewhat more tense silence took hold before Seth stood up.

"This lesson is over," said the knight cooly, picking up his canteen and standing up.

"Oh, no you don't!" cried Maria, shifting into her cat phase soon afterwards and pouncing on Seth so that his arms were pinned under her weight.

Looking behind him, the knight tried to struggle over to the lance, but Maria's weight was firmly placed over his such that he could not move at all. The silver knight was visibly shaken by this, and he had to fight back the urge to scream for help. The fact that the cat was keeping a constant growl did not help anything.

They remained in that position for around three minutes before Maria's constant growl stopped all together. Some of the weight was shifted from Seth's body, and before the knight could do anything else, Maria shifted back into her human form, the first thing she did when she was human again being to clutch her head in agony.

"Oh..." groaned the cat laguz. "My head..."

Seth wanted to leave right then, but something in his brain told him that in a way, Maria was right. So thinking this, he went over to the cat laguz and knelt to her level.

"Maria, are you all right?" asked Seth.

"No..." said the cat in reply.

"Has this been going on for a while?" asked the knight, the thought flashing through his mind as the first thing he should say.

"Dear Sharotal, yes!" said Maria, still clutching her head. "It's been happening whenever I transform lately. It's been happening ever since we left Jehanna. I... I've been trying to hide it from all of you. Especially Kuranga. Oh..."

"I see..." said Seth. "Why are you trying to hide it?"

"I don't want anybody to worry," replied Maria. "They have enough troubles on their mind as it is."

"And what do you think caused this?" asked the knight.

"I was told when I was a girl that this is what happens when you parent a child with the brand..." replied Maria.

Seth's expression went from one of understanding to one of shock, and suddenly he found himself backing away just a little bit.

"No..." said the knight. "It's Ike's child, isn't it?"

Maria nodded as she crawled closer to Seth, her lavender eyes pleading him to understand her plight. Seth was thunderstruck, at first not caring to make a move towards her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I wanted him to relieve the pain of losing Gaston. And then this happened. And I don't want to tell him at all. And Kuranga can't sense the aura at this stage at all, you know? So nobody can know. Please don't tell anybody you saw this. Please!"

Seth was silent for a few seconds, his exression reverting back to his caring face as he knelt towards Maria and took her hand in his.

"Of course," said the knight. "Your secret's safe with me. But you have to do two things. First, in the next opportunity you get, you have to go to Ike and tell him about this. Secondly, you must promise never to ask me that question that you asked earlier again."

"Why are you still dodging the question?" asked Maria. "I gave you my secrets; yours are safe with me as well."

Seth opened his mouth to reply, but found that in the end, Maria was right. It was only fair to trade secrets after a very intimate secret was revealed. Letting out a sigh, the knight looked at Maria, his eyes portraying a sense of giving up.

"I'm in love with Eirika," he began simply. "I am, and I've always been since the War of the Stones. But I serve my country, not my princess. I try to keep the distance between us more real, I think. But it's constantly destroyed..."

"Hey, hey..." said Maria, a slight smile gracing her lips despite her searing headache. "Don't get so uptight about it. There's nothing wrong with love between a knight and a princess. Hey, maybe she feels the same way and is trying to get you to open up to her. Just don't worry about it and open up. It's okay; it shouldn't be too hard to resist the temptation to just jump on her and proclaim your love."

Seth nodded, taking Maria's words and digesting them in his mind. He was still not sure the suggestion would work, but he would try it anyway.

"Thank you, Maria," said Seth with a nod. "What we say here, stays here?"

"Sure," said Maria, whose headache was finally subsiding quickly.

"I think that's quite enough for today, don't you think?" asked Seth.

"Yeah," said Maria, who finally found the strength to stand back up. "Let's get back to camp before anybody figures out where we are and what we're doing."

Right then, however, a battle cry was heard from some distance away, and Seth and Maria looked at each other dumbfoundedly.

"Oh, dear," said Maria. "We gotta go!"

Neither of them said anything as they both ran in the direction of the battle cry, Seth taking care to pick up one of the lances that they had used and the two of them running as fast as they could towards the battle.

The battle had started without Seth's presence, but again, that was the result of the fact that a fairly small force had ambushed them at sunset. There was no way one was able to tell this would happen.

So until Seth arrived, Eirika resolved she would be a good warrior for his sake.

Ike stood just next to Eirika as he hacked away at the rusalkas coming at them. They apparently also had a wili with them, for Willie was suddenly sent dancing all over the place just behind them. The boy was firing away at any spot that he could see, mostly scorching nothing and sometimes getting his friends by accident. Ephraim was busy twirling his lance around, knocking enemies down onto the ground, where either Joshua or Cormag would finish them off and go on to attack another rusalka. Sometimes, however, a stray fireball from Willie hit the king, and this slowed his momentum down enough that a few rusalkas were able to score a few hits against the king. And as a transformed Kuranga stood above the rest of the group breathing fire into the spirit army that was coming down on them, everything seemed against their odds.

However, by chance Kuranga managed to hit the wili that was controlling Willie, and so he Cockney boy managed to stop dancing for a few seconds. When this happened, the Cockney boy smiled and started casting firebolts at the many sky women that were flying all over the place. At this point, the army of spirits started to dwindle, and Eirika's smile began to broaden as she and Ike both hacked away at the enemies.

At this point, Maria and Seth had both run into the battle, Maria instantly shifting to her cat phase as Seth managed to join Eirika in defeating enemies. The queen said nothing, instead making a note to herself to have a small little discussion with Seth later when there were no spirits to contend with. For right then and there, everybody was busy making shards of several rusalkas.

The rusalka count had managed to dwindle considerably with the soldiers working within the spirit army when suddenly, Willie turned around to see a strange, gaunt man who was missing an arm materialize from nowhere. The lance in the person's hand seemed to be very powerful, and the sheer evil that emanated from his body was enough for Willie to get that his intentions were evil even if the man's back was turned to the Cockney boy.

"'Ey, you git outa 'ere!" cried Willie, sending a fireball in his direction.

This called the attentions of all of the competitors, everybody looking behind them as Willie launched a fireball at the strange man. However, he raised his lance up in the air, and the fireball instantly dissipated into nothing.

"W-what?" asked Willie. "Dat ain't never good, Governor!"

"Hmph," said the strange man. "Such a runt like you isn't fit for gutting!"

"Valter..." hissed Seth angrily, his voice seething with pure hatred as the rusalkas around them stopped fighting the group and everybody turned around to see the crazed general.

"Yes, me," said the knight of Grado. "I see you've done a good job of remembering who I am."

"You..." Cormag was so choked with hate he could barely utter any sentences at all.

"Yes, me, brother of Glen," said Valter. "But that's not what I'm here for, now, is it? I'm here for some ladies that my master needs."

And with a mysterious force, the general suddenly pulled Eirika towards him while lifting his lance high in the air. Despite her best attempts to resist this capture, the queen was still seen next to Valter, struggling against a force.

"Eirika!" cried Ephraim, raising his lance.

"Take your forces off of milady this instant!" bellowed Seth, holding his lance in the air.

"And what are you going to do about it?" asked Valter. "I dare you to try to kill me again."

Seth blinked before he suddenly glared at the wyvern rider.

"All right," said the Silver Knight.

And without thinking about it, the knight charged at Valter. However, before the lance could even sink into flesh, Seth felt the lance get veered off course and straight towards Eirika. Only then did the knight stop to try to divert his blade. As the general stood around trying to redirect his lance at the deranged man, Ephraim picked up his own lance and made to charge at the enemy when he suddenly felt his own weapon suffer the same effects that Seth's was. By that point, the rest of the group had figured out that the deranged general was making it impossible for them to fight him directly,so they did not rush in to save the queen at all.

"Exactly as I thought," said Valter. "Now, if you will excuse me, I will take her over to my lord now."

"You wouldn't dare!" cried a booming voice from seemingly nowhere.

Before anybody could even blink, the large, bulky figure of a man wielding an axe jumped into the scene. Almost immediately, axe clashed against lance, and the general was sent back, Eirika finally breaking free of the force holding her captive and running straight to Seth.

The bulky man shoved the deranged general away and paused for a second, blonde hair falling on his shoulders as he stood proud against the figure of the mad general. His silver eyes were contorted in anger over such a cheap tactic, and so he looked very angry. However, Eirika, Seth, Ephraim, Ike, and Maria all knew who he was.

"Alyosha!" cried Ike as Maria shifted back to her human state next to the mercenary.

The large man simply stood there, angry.

Then, without warning, he charged forward, axe raised high in the air. The general barely managed to get his bearings in time to be able to dodge the axe blow that followed, but he did somehow. Valter retaliated with the stab of his lance, but that did not connect with its target at all as Alyosha had jumped to the side to dodge this. Alyosha sent another axe blow Valter's way, and then the two were locked in a clash, the two of them pushing against each other with all of their might.

Alyosha, however, was stronger, and he managed to shove Valter away with ease. The large man took the time to slash at the general, but he had underestimated the force of his shove, so the swing missed sorely. Valter, meanwhile, shook his head to get his bearings before jumping back into the frey with a large swing of the lance that Alyosha blocked with his axe.

The two of them traded blows for quite a while, the clash of silver against wood created quite the dull accompaniment to the fight that was taking place right in front of the army. The spirits, too, were still, watching their commander and this mysterious man duke it out in the center of a rather small area. Ike was beginning to worry that maybe Alyosha would not win, but Maria reassuringly patted his hand with a smile on her face. Ike nodded, and the fight went on.

Finally, Valter made a blunder where he tried to stab Alyosha, but misstepped. This sent him falling, but he regained his footing even without the arm that he had lost. However, this distraction was enough time for Alyosha to run at him with his axe ready to deliver the final blow.

And deliver the final blow did Alyosha, as suddenly Valter materialized into the grey puddle they saw all of the generals degenerate into, and the spirits behind everybody let out a shriek as they all either dissipated into nothing or shattered into a thousand shards of glass.

A nervous silence filled the area, Alyosha clinging his axe as he looked around. Finally, he let down the axe and looked at Eirika.

"So, I thought about your proposal the other day," said Alyosha simply. "And quite simply, I think you are worthy enough of my talents."

"Really?" asked Eirika. "That's wonderful! Did your charge reach her destination?"

"She did," replied Alyosha, everybody putting their weapons away. "She sent a linnet bird after me to tell me that much."

"Okay then," said Maria. "It's good to see you're still standing."

"And you to," replied Alyosha.

"I think we've had enough of this fighting for now," said Ephraim. "Let's see what parts of camp they didn't destroy, and we'll regroup from there."

Everybody around the king nodded as they dispersed to check all of the tents around them that were trampled by plenty of rusalkas and the wili that had enchanted Willie to dance around the area. Ike was about to do the same when Maria pulled on his arm.

"Ike, I wanted to talk to you about something," said Maria quickly. "In private."

"Okay," said Ike, the two of them walking quite a distance away from the rest of the group and in the cold mountains that Solovey had leveled with his whistle. As soon as they were out of earshot from the group, Ike turned to face the woman he loved, sapphire eyes glowing in warmth. "What is it?"

"Ike..." said Maria. "I really don't know how to tell you this..."

"Just say it," replied Ike. "It's easier if you do that."

"I..." said the cat laguz somewhat hesitantly. "I have been feeling strange lately. Whenever I've been transforming to my cat state, I've gotten this terrible pain in my head..."

"Oh dear," said Ike, leaning in close to Maria. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Probably," said Maria, looking down at the ground. "I was told that this is what happens to a laguz when they parent a branded."

Ike looked at her wide-eyed, her words settling into his mind.

"I think you're the father," said Maria. "No. I know you're the father."

"Maria..." said the mercenary, his eyes seeming to loze their concentration as he gaped at this revelation.

"No, don't apologize," said the cat laguz, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I... I wasn't sure..."

"Don't say anything else," said Ike, and suddenly Maria felt her own body within Ike's tight embrace as the mercenary left a chaste kiss on the lips. "We'll work something out."

"Thanks, Ike," said Maria. "Thanks for not throwing me out."

"I love you," said the mercenary. "Why should I throw you out? I'd love to father your child. No. Our child."

The cat laguz chuckled at this as her arms travelled down to Ike's waist, the two of them hugging each other happily as the sun dipped below the horizon.

"Our child," Maria echoed softly. "Our child..."


	12. Chapter 12: The Brand

Yeah. I just had the stupidest blunder of all time with posting this. Damn it!

But, it's fixed now, so no worries!

* * *

**_The great warrior Alyosha joins up with Ike and the army in Carcino. Now, with the threat in the mercantile nation essentially wiped out due to the efforts of Solovey and Alyosha, Ephraim marches to Frelia as quickly as possible._**

Ike, worried about the state of Maria's well-being, is now always by her side, and as they set up camp Kuranga decides something that will forever alter the course of his relationship with the woman...

Chapter 12: The Brand

In the dead of night, Maria found that she could not sleep.

The queesiness had just begun to settle in the day before, and she knew at this stage that Kuranga had probably detected the aura by then. She knew she was in trouble with him, but he had not said anything so far, so she had an ounce of hope left in her.

Bonnie had returned from another inexplicable stint that Willie had sent her on. However, the Cockney boy violently denied this claim, translating her tweets to be that she had fallen in love with a linnet bird by the name of Clyde. Willie was taking it very hard that his best friend was intent on leaving him soon, but Maria decided to stay out of it, instead preferring to let Bonnie sit next to her.

The linnet bird looked up at the laguz as Ike snored noisily next to her. The linnet bird gave the cat laguz a good looking over before softly tweeting once.

Maria sighed softly, looking at the linnet bird right in the eyes.

"Bonnie, I'm scared," replied Maria softly without even knowing what the linnet bird had asked. "Kuranga's on to me now, I know it. I don't know what he's going to do..."

The linnet bird chirped softly before flying up to Maria's shoulder and gesturing at Ike with her beak.

"I guess you're right," replied Maria, inferring from the gesture that the linnet bird was talking about Ike. "I do have him. He's the best person I know. I would give the world to be with him forever. But why can't Kuranga understand?"

Bonnie let off a soft trill, and Maria nodded, not even sure what the bird was saying.

"I don't care what you're saying there," said Maria. "But if you're telling me to have confidence, then I guess that's all I've got."

The linnet bird chirped brightly, and then Maria still felt the feeling of queesiness that had been there since the start of the evening.

The laguz's sense of smell suddenly noticed a hot poker burning somewhere in the area. Literally the next second, she found Bonnie chirping alarmedly, and she flew off before Maria could sense anything else.

The noise Bonnie made was enough to wake Ike up, and the mercenary groaned as he looked up at Maria.

However, no sooner had he done this than a flaming poker poked straight through the tent, the red metal spelling only one thing.

Maria screamed, effectively waking Ike up completely as she scrambled out of her sleeping bag and onto her feet. A few more swipes from the flaming poker and the tent was bursted open to reveal Kuranga, red eyes glowing morbidly as he looked at the cat laguz.

Screaming once again and effectively getting Ike to jump out of the bag, the cat laguz stood up out of her sleeping bag and made a run for it. Ike had stood up and was going to tackle Kuranga when the dragon beat him to the punch and smacked Ike with the hot end of the poker. Ike let out a yell as he fell to the ground, the burn that was left on his cheek causing great pain to the mercenary.

With Ike out of the way, Kuranga pursued Maria, who now was pretty far away. However, Kuranga's built figure enabled him to run up to her quickly as she ran out of the camp, and then suddenly he finally caught up with her and tackled her to the ground, his massive figure holding her down as she struggled uselessly against him.

"Now, now, Maria," said Kuranga with an almost sinister inflection in his voice. "We can't have your baby here..."

"No..." said Maria simply as she felt the dragon's hands take a hold of her shorts, her hands instinctively darting to the hem of her shorts as Kuranga tried to pull them down. "No!"

With a harsh yank, the dragon pulled the cat's shorts all the way down, the dragon positioning himself so that the poker was set to enter Maria in a painful way.

"Now this will only hurt a little," said Kuranga. "Be a good girl, and don't scream."

"'Ey!" cried out a voice in the night. "You leave 'er alone, Keranga!"

A fireball suddenly hit Kuranga in the face, and he abruptly stood up before he could even do anything with the poker. Maria quickly pulled her pants back up, taking a moment to breath in and out from being crushed by his weight as she slowly pulled her shorts backup. Never had she been more relieved to hear Willie's voice in her life.

And indeed, in a few seconds the Cockney boy was on top of Kuranga, trying to wrest the poker from the dragon's iron grip. However, Willie's scrawny stature did nothing to help, so he found himself instantly thrown off by the dragon. The Cockney boy landed on his back, and Kuranga walked slowly to him, placing a foot on the boy's belly to keep him still as Maria slowly stood up.

"You also have been a bad boy," said Kuranga simply. "Let me fix that for you."

Without warning, Kuranga jabbed the poker into Willie's left eye. The indescribable pain that came from this action caused Willie to scream, Maria joining in his wailing as the dragon twisted the poker around in Willie's eye socket. The burning at his eye caused the Cockney boy's vision to whiten out, and when Kuranga twisted the poker around enough the eye popped out of Willie's eye socket, the expansion from the heat proving to be too much. As the boy lost his sight in his left eye, he screamed inhumanly, begging for the pain to end. Maria was petrified with terror and could do nothing.

However, before Kuranga was able to go on to Willie's right eye he felt himself get tackled by Ike. The two of the wrestled for a brief period before Ike had Kuranga pinned under him, hate glaring in his blue eyes as he stared the dragon down.

Ike's mistake lay in keeping his legs open, so then Kuranga's knees quickly darted to the space between his legs. As Ike got kneed in his privates, however, Maria had simply broke down crying right where she knelt, one hand on herself and the other on her heart as she cried freely.

The mercenary and the Cockney boy both laid on their side useless as Kuranga slowly approached Maria, the sinister smile on his features frightening the poor cat the closer he got to her.

What the dragon did not expect at that point was for Joshua, Seth, Cormag, Alyosha, and Ephraim to tackle the dragon at exactly the same time. The six of them wrestled for control for a few minutes, but the five people native to Magvel managed to keep the dragon down when Ike crawled over and laid down on top of the dragon's torso. While the dragon was down, Eirika and Natasha arrived at the scene, the cleric immediately running to Willie's side as he bawled uncontrollably.

"Are you insane?" cried the queen of Renais at Kuranga. "What are you hoping to accomplish, destroying Maria's womb like that?"

"She caries the mark of the brand in there!" proclaimed the dragon loudly. "I tried doing what was right!"

"Preposterous!" cried Ephraim. "How can she, when she has not been married off yet?"

Ike suddenly cast a guilty glance at the ground, suddenly giving away in one gesture what he had done.

"No..." said Joshua. "You seriously didn't--!"

"It's not his fault!" cried Maria suddenly. "I wanted him to take away the pain of losing Gaston... Please, Ike's not at fault here! Don't hurt him!"

"Oh, we're not hurting Ike," replied Ephraim angrily. "It's Kuranga here we're trying to kill! How could you even think of doing that to Maria?"

"Because the brand is powerful and it must be stopped!" cried Kuranga, unyielding and resistant as he struggled underneath the weight of the six men above him.

"Well, that's too bad!" cried Ike, crying tears of absolute hatred for the dragon that he was laying on. "Maria cared a lot about you! She looked up to you like a father, damn it! How could you do this to her?"

"The brand is--!" cried Kuranga, before he was silenced with a punch to the gut by Joshua.

"Oh, no you don't!" cried the king of Jehanna angrily. "You better not sprout out that bullshit about the brand!"

"You know, one thing I noticed about you is that you take your predictions seriously!" said Cormag. "But dearest Latona, I never thought you'd go this far!"

"This is a disgrace to one such as yourself!" cried Alyosha angrily. "How could you do this to the woman who looks up to you like a father?"

"You know what?" asked Ephraim. "Don't bother replying to that question. Because for what you just did, you're not our seer as long as I'm the leader of this army!"

"W-what?" asked Kuranga. "Don't you forget whose predictions--"

"Silence, knave!" cried Eirika angrily, silencing the dragon temporarily. "Nobody gave you the right to speak, and you shall not speak unless we ask you to!"

"I have the--!"

Before another word could escape Kuranga, the mercenary finally had enough of this. Angrily, he punched the dragon straight in the mouth, the sound of teeth being broken loose creating only the slightest sound as Ike punched Kuranga's teeth straight into his mouth, effectively silencing the deranged fool.

"What you just tried to do is unforgivable!" cried Ephraim. "To deny a woman the sanctity of life is bad enough, but the woman who looked up to you as a father? You disgust me!"

The six men that were on top of him finally stood back up, and while Ike walked over to Maria, the five of them bound Kuranga's hands with ropes.

"Put him in the stocks," said Ephraim. "That ought to show him never to do what he just did again while we figure out what else to do with him!"

The four men holding the dragon laguz nodded and marched back to camp with Kuranga in tow, the dragon too shocked for words at the fact that nobody was standing up to him. Ephraim stood rigid as Eirika walked up to him.

"I cannot believe he just tried to rape Maria with a poker..." said Eirika as she looked at the now discarded poker at the spot where Kuranga had been tackled into the ground.

"Neither can I..." said Ephraim as he looked at Maria as she cried against Ike's chest.

The queen of Renais looked over to a sobbing Willie and Natasha, the boy still holding his eye socket as the cleric administered treatment for the lost eye.

"And he even caused Willie to lose an eye..." said Eirika, eyes brimming with tears. "How could he be so extreme?"

"I don't know, Eirika," said Ephraim, patting her on the shoulder softly. "All we know now is that Maria has to be extra careful with herself."

"Maria has a child out of wedlock?" asked the queen.

"Apparently," replied Ephraim. "But there is nothing I want to do about that to either of them, especially not with what just happened..."

"Poor Maria..." said Eirika sadly. "I can't believe Kuranga tried to do that to her..."

The twins said nothing as they looked on in sadness at the scene before them. As Maria shed a countless amount of tears against Ike's chest, Willie finally took his hand away from his eyes to reveal the gaping hole that needed to be covered by an eyepatch.

Joshua, Natasha, Cormag, and Willie all sat next to each other by the fire a few nights later, the four of them keeping a watch on the now bound Kuranga.

The dragon had been sentenced to being a permanent captive of Renais, thus meaning that he was strictly forbidden to transform in anybody's presence. Willie figured Kuranga would find a loophole, however, as the people of Magvel had no means of restricting Kuranga's right to shift to his dragon state.

However, Kuranga realized that he really should not have done what he did from the way the camp was treating him then. Nobody dared look at the dragon, all of them either rerouting themselves when they were close by or simply not responding to his demands.

The worst times had to be when Maria, Ike, and Willie walked right by him. Willie would glare at Kuranga threateningly with his only good eye, and Kuranga could only imagine the gaping hole that was underneath the Cockney boy's new eyepatch staring at him with equally intense hatred as he walked right by him. Maria wouldn't even look at him anymore; whenever she passed, she usually did nothing to him, but the few times he did manage to catch her eyes he found an unspeakable sadness at his betrayal in her eyes.

And after the incident, he had seen the auras that told him he would have been better if he had done nothing and let the baby pass. How could he have been so blind to the auras when he himself was a seer.

This doubt was enough to convice Kuranga not to escape at all.

As he listened in, he heard the group talking about Maria's pregnancy. How relieved they all were that Ephraim and Eirika in their wisdom had decided to leave Ike and Maria alone. For the king to have acted would have added to Maria's emotional trauma, and Ephraim did not want to see Maria in bad health at all.

Whatever they said exactly, Kuranga did not care. All he centered on was the grave mistake he had made, all in the name of his now-pointless struggle against the branded.

Seth and Eirika were alone, the queen requesting somebody to watch over her as she took a bath in a river that was close to the camp site.

The knight was now really being put through a great test; the moon shone brilliantly, and Eirika waded in the river completely naked, her pale skin shining gloriously in the night. Seth had to do everything in his will power to keep himself from looking at the queen, but every so often he attempted a glance at the queen's figure. Whenever he did and Eirika was looking, however, she simply assumed he was making sure she was all right, and so she turned away from him with a soft laugh and continued her long midnight bath.

Seth was finally relieved when Eirika emerged from the river and began to dress herself, for the distractions toward her would be eradicated. The knight simply walked up to the queen, lance in hand as he nodded.

"I am ready," said the queen, and without another word to the contrary the two began on their way back.

Seth was quiet for a while, deciding to let Eirika have the first word no matter what happened. Finally, when the silence proved to be a bit much, the queen looked at the knight reassuringly.

"I saw you looking at me during the bath," said the queen.

"I was merely trying to keep watch over you, Eirika," lied the knight. "I would think it dishonorable to lose my lady to a spirit while she is taking a bath."

"So would I," said Eirika softly. "But I couldn't help but feel that there's something more..."

Seth blushed almost imperceptibly in the night, but he said nothing on this as they walked.

"No," replied Seth. "There is nothing."

"All right then," said Eirika. "Are you worried about Maria and Ike now?"

"Most certainly, Eirika," said the knight. "I am worried especially about Maria..."

"Why?" asked the queen.

"It's a long story," said Seth. "But Maria told me about her pregnancy before I made her tell Ike."

"Oh," said Eirika. "So you knew Maria was pregnant already?"

"Yes," said the knight as he walked on in the night. "It's funny, because she asked to be a student of mine in the event that this happened."

"She asked very well ahead of this event, I take it?" asked the queen.

"Yes," said the knight. "Ike is taking this rather well."

"He is," said the queen as they approached the area to find the four people that were supposed to watch Kuranga asleep on the ground with the dragon in a similar state as he leaned against the wood he was tied to for support. "I do wish Kuranga had not been so foolish..."

"So do I, Eirika," said Seth softly as the two of them walked together.

"I shall see you tomorrow, then?" asked Eirika with a smile on her face.

"I shall," replied Seth. "Good night."

"Good night, Seth," said Eirika softly.

As the queen retreated into her tent, the knight sighed bitterly at his predicament. He still had not come out to his lady, and truth be told he was very afraid of doing so. How would she react to this change in sentiment? How would she deal with the fact that he had hidden the feelings for longer than he had cared to think about?

These and several other questions pervaded his mind as he slowly sat down in front of the queen's tent, ready to defend it at all costs even if it did not necessarily need any defending at that time of night.


	13. Chapter 13: Kidnapping

Well, now I'm back. This will not be a blunder, I swear.

And in other news, Mahler Six is love. It just is. You people seriously need to listen to that symphony. I love it to death.

So here we are with the next chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

**_Without further delay, the group quickly set out the remainder of the distance to Frelia. At the border between Carcino and Frelia, king Innes himself meets the group there. With the spirit army slowly closing in on them, they hurry to the capitol of Frelia in the hopes that they can arrive there before the spirits can._**

**_However, they arrive there to find that the spirits have taken over Frelia's castle in Innes' mad rush to find an escape route to meet up with Ephraim. The army sets camp near the castle, hoping to storm it by night._**

Chapter 13: Kidnapping

The day before they were to return back to the capitol, the group had set up camp a good distance away from it, hoping to storm it by the cover of night.

Willie looked out onto the Frelian landscape, the sun rolling over as he saw the sky women flying in the distance. Bonnie had gone on a scouting run, with Joshua sitting close to him as he looked at the creatures.

"Well, I can tell you something, kid," said Joshua. "Those spirits look pretty crazy."

"Well, Governor, yeh never no novin' bout dat," said Willie with a shrug. "Dey be somevin' else..."

"Funny you should say that," replied Joshua as he stood up and walked over to him. "I wonder what's going on there right now..."

"Same 'ere, Governor," added Willie with a slight smile on his face. "I den't no wet's gonna 'appen, so I 'ope tah be ready fer it!"

"That's always a good mindset to have," added the king of Jehanna. "You know, I wonder what we'll do when we have to part ways."

"Aw, I den't worry abut it none, Governor," replied the Cockney boy with a scoff. "We 'ad good times 'ere. Dat's all I'll need, roight?"

"That's true," said Joshua. "But is it over?"

At this time, Bonnie came flying back to Willie, and then it chirped merrily.

"Okey den!" said Willie excitedly. "We'll take dem real good, we will!"

Before the two of them could return to camp, however, Bonnie chirped a few times, almost as if it was warning Willie of something. When the Cockney boy's expression turned from oe of happiness to one of apprehension, Joshua leaned in, confused.

"Something's up?" asked the king.

"I den' no..." said Willie. "She went roight and said somevin' about... I den't no, 'vamiliarity' or somevin like dat?"

"Familiarity?" asked Joshua. "That can't be good."

"Let's 'ope it ain't too not bad fer us," said Willie.

With a nod, the two of them returned back to camp, the sun slowly sinking in the horizon as they walked back to camp.

* * *

The night had fallen, and the group was just outside of the palace of Frelia. They were literally right outside the door; they had already climbed the castle gate, and for some reason, the spirits had decided not to patrol the outside area. Everybody knew something was very wrong with this setup, but nevertheless they knew they had to do something about the spirits. So everybody stood outside of the palace doors quietly, ready to climb into the windows of the castle at a moment's notice.

Ike, Willie, Maria, Eirika, and Seth were all situated around the same window, the rope having been hooked onto the window. The five of them then looked to Ephraim, who was ready to give the signal. Across the castle was Joshua, Natasha, Innes, and Cormag, all of whom were looking at Ephraim just as attentively. Kuranga was still tied to the stake that was next to Ephraim, the dragon being downcast and seemingly confused.

When Ephraim raised his lance, everybody climbed up the ropes as quickly as they could, all of them spilling into the palace with their armies slowly coming in behind them as everybody slowly advanced out of the rooms they had appeared in and out into the hallways.

There were no spirits patrolling the halls, which made everybody suspect that there was something else going on. However, nobody really cared about it, as they almost had the spirits. So everybody continued down the corridor to the stairs.

And as they were descending the stairs, Ephraim and a few people from the army knocked the large doors down and entered the throneroom, everybody else running in quickly. When the army was inside, they found themselves looking around at nothing. Desite the signs pointing otherwise,there were no spirits around, and so the army was left wondering what had happened.

And almost as soon as this question had popped into their heads, the castle doors suddenly flew up and sealed themselves shut. Some members of the army noticed this, but everybody had noticed it as soon as the decisive bang of the doors closing was heard. Everybody's attentions were stolen by this sound.

However, a maniacal laugh resounded through the throne room, and everybody turned their heads all over the place to see rusalki and wilis and sky women running in from all sides, pushing the army towards the center of the throne room with all of the leaders of the countries and the army forward so that they all surrounded a sight that shocked Ephraim.

"W-what?" asked the king of Renais as he looked down upon the image of horror before him.

In front of him stood L'arachel, but something was different about her; her eyes seemed to have changed to the color of blood in stark contrast with her former jade eyes. Streaks of read were also seen on certain strands of her hair, and she gave off a very bloody appearance in general.

"L'arachel?" asked Joshua quickly.

"Yes, it's me!" cried the demented woman. "The glorious L'arachel!"

"'Ey!" cried Willie angrily from somewhere within the crowd. "Were be Viordilegi?"

L'arachel simply shook her head and snapped her fingers. Instantly, Willie was quieted through some methods.

"What did you do to him?" asked Eirika wildly.

"Oh, nothing!" said L'arachel. "After all, it's all for the best!"

Ike groaned annoyedly as he slapped himself in the palm.

"Okay, seriously, shut up," said Ike.

L'arachel shook her head again and snapped her fingers.

And then, a strange protrusion of flesh rapidly grew over Ike's mouth, and then the flesh attached itself to the mercenary's lower lip, and then as he tried to speak, no sound came out of his mouth.

This caused everybody to gasp in shock as Ike dropped Ragnell on the ground and clawed at his mouth and found that he could not open his mouth.

"Saint Latona!" cried Innes angrily. "What did you do to him?"

"I sealed his mouth shut," replied the crazed queen of Renais gleefully. "What else did you expect from the leader of righteousness?"

"This isn't righteousness!" cried Eirika. "This is not you, L'arachel! Get a hold of yourself!"

"Oh, really?" asked L'arachel. "Because I can do whatever I want. And speaking of getting a hold of people..."

Her hands suddenly darted out, and they grabbed both Eirika and Natasha. Before either of them could figure out what had happened, they found themselves pulled towards L'arachel, her arm stretching and snaking around them in an inhuman way as if to bind them like a python.

"Hey!" cried Joshua, drawing his sword at the same time Ephraim drew his lance. "You let my wife go this instant!"

"Oh, and what makes you think I will?" asked L'archel, her hold on the ladies tightening. "If you make one move towards me, I'll kill them both!"

Ephraim and Joshua's faces turned from faces of determination to ones of doubt. They suddenly wondered how they could kill their wives for want of revenge.

Not wanting to test his luck, Joshua was the first to lower his weapon. Almost in the same motion, Ephraim lowered his own lance, and then the weapons clattered down uselessly onto the ground.

"That's what I thought," replied L'arachel with a sneer as her hold loosened on the ladies just enough for her to hold them without them running away. "Spirits, heed my commands! Lock these impudent fools into the cells! And I mean everybody! When I come back, I expect to see everybody in their cells!"

With a diabolical laugh, L'arachel, Eirika, and Natasha all dissapeared in a puff of smoke. Before anybody could really make sense of the situation, the spirits rushed forwards and got a hold on everybody in their moment of abstraction all at the same time.

* * *

Ike, Maria, Willie, Seth, Cormag, and Alyosha all sat in the same crowded cell that was just under the ground. The moonlight poured in as they all sat there, none of them being able to sleep.

The six of them thus decided to sit up and watch the moonlight as it seeped into their otherwise dark cell. In the morning, they knew that the luxury of the sun would probably be blocked off, but until then they knew they had some kind of light source. The window in which the moonlight was going through had bars in it, but without them the entire group could escape the castle quickly and silently.

They had also lost all of their weapons, and now Ragell lay somewhere deep in the castle. Willie and Ike's lips had unsealed themselves over time, too, so the two of them were fairly happy about this. Their current situation, however, was different.

The cell they were in was very small, and this aggravated everybody in there to no end.

Finally, Alyosha shook his head.

"We cannot afford to be like this..." said the large man softly. "This is a disgrace!"

"You can say that again," said Cormag almost dismissively.

"I am worried about Eirika," said Seth as he gazed out of the barred window. "I do hope she is safe."

"I hope she's fine too," added Maria, knowing why Seth had said it for the tenth time that night but safeguarding his reasons why the best she could. "But more importantly than that, where is she?"

Before anybody could reply, a chirp was heard at the window. Willie smiled as Bonnie flew into the cell and right on Willie's shoulder.

"Wait, where was Bonnie this whole time?" asked Ike.

"Oh, I den't no," said Willie with a shrug. "I sent 'er around, and I told 'er teh run down teh Grado or somevin'. I didn't dink she'd be dis fast, dough..."

The bird then chirped quite a lot and almost frantically, and Willie gave it several gestures to go on when he heard her chirp.

When she was done, the Cockney boy was giving an expression that mixed confusion and fascination in the same face.

"What did it say?" asked Ike.

"It said somevin' about some garden in Grado," said Willie. "And she said somevin' else about black fields..."

Everybody nodded at this. However, just as soon as he nodded, Ike flinched, the contents of the first dream flooding into his head rapidly.

"Wait a minute!" said Ike. "I had a dream about a magic garden in a field of black!"

"And if Bonnie saw that..." said Maria.

"Then that's it!" said Ike joyously. "The magic garden must be in Grado!"

"And then Solovey mentioned something about the women being in Grado," said Cormag as he stood up. "So that means that the women must also be in Grado..."

"And they have to be in the magic garden!" said Ike. "We need to get out of here!"

"Exactly how do you plan on doing that?" asked Alyosha dejectedly.

"Allow me to assist you," said a voice from the other side of the bars blocking the window.

With a gasp from Maria, all eyes turned towards the window to see that a hooded figure was blocking the moonlight. However, the figure held his hand out, and suddenly the bars began to vibrate in their holds. Eventually, the bars became a liquid, and this liquid came into a ball that was promptly pulled out of the window.

Bonnie chirped happily, Willie looking over to the bird as she chirped away.

"'E can be trusted, blokes," said the Cockney boy as soon as the bird was done chirping.

"Well, I can't really say no to freedom, so let's go," said Cormag.

One by one, the group climbed out of the unbarred window, Cormag exiting first and Alyosha exiting last. As soon as they were out, the hooded figure motioned them away from the palace, and the seven of them quickly ran away from the palace, and it was not until they were well inside of the forest that was close by.

As soon as they were deep in the forest, the hooded man finally stopped walking, and everybody else caught up to him slowly.

"We'll be safe for the moment," said the hooded figure. "The spirits will be looking for us in a day or two. Until then, we are best running to Grado as quickly as possible."

"Your voice..." said Seth softly. "It's familiar..."

"So you're saying you know this guy," replied Maria plaintively.

"I can't place a name to it," said the Silver Knight. "Tell me sir; where you a friend of milady Eirika?"

"Yes," replied the man. "You might remember me as the deranged prince of Grado?"

The recollection hit Seth at once.

"Prince Lyon!" said Seth with shock clearly showing on his face. "But you were supposed to be dead!"

"I was resurrected along with the other six generals of Grado," said the mysterious man. "But I fled, realizing what he could have done to the continent if he was in power."

"He?" asked Alyosha, tilting his head to the side. "Who might this 'he' be?"

"Katchei, of course," said the mysterious man.

"Katchei?" asked Maria, tilting her head to the side. "What kind of name is that?"

"I don't know, and I really don't care," said Cormag. "Show your face so I know that it's really you, Lyon!"

"As you wish, Cormag," said the hooded figure.

A hand grasped the edge of the hood, and then the man revealed his face. Cormag shrunk back at the lilac hair that rested on top of the man's head and the amethyst orbs that stared at him. It was undoubtedly Lyon of Grado, and yet, something was still amiss. However, in the present moment Cormag and Seth were too surprised at the prince of Grado being alive.

"So, let me get this straight," said Ike. "You're the prince of Grado, and you're supposed to be dead because of the Demon King."

"That is correct," replied the prince softly.

"I see," said the mercenary. "Can you tell us what's going on with this Katchei, then?"

"I do not know the whole story," said Lyon. "But I can take you to the enchanted garden in Grado that was made from Katchei's magic and obscured by the lava."

"Wait, so the lava was a creation of Katchei's?" asked Seth inquisitively.

"Yes," replied the prince. "It was meant to cover the garden and thus also hide Katchei's base of operations."

"I see..." said Ike with a nod.

"And he meant to take over the whole of Magvel?" asked Alyosha.

"Yes," replied Lyon. "But words are meaningless here. We shall rest here for the day, and then we shall go to the garden tomorrow night."

"Nite, Governor?" asked Willie. "Bet wy deh nite?"

"Katchei has a set of magical bells that ring during the day if anybody that should not be in the garden is in the garden," said Lyon. "We should not venture that way during the day."

"So, we go in the next night, then?" asked Cormag.

"Yes," said Lyon. "For now, let us rest. I am sure you all need it."

"I think so too," said Ike in a half-yawn as he sat on the ground. "So the trees will keep us safe?"

"I have a charm on us all that bars our souls from being tracked by the spirits," said the prince. "They won't find us here."

"That's good to know," said Maria as everybody eventually sat down under the cover of trees. "Good night, all."

"Nite, mu'um,"said Willie as he laid back and fell asleep.

Eventually, everybody laid down on the cold, hard ground and managed to sleep. Whatever the case, it was certainly much better than the crowded cell they had been stuffed in earlier in the night.


	14. Chapter 14: Katchei's Enchanted Garden

Yeah, the shit hit the fan last chapter. But now with that out of the way, let's get some plot twists going, shall we? I can't wait to see your faces! (Well, not really, but you know what I mean.)

* * *

**_The lack of spirits at the Frelian palace turned out to be a trap. Inside the palace, a possessed L'arachel takes Ephraim and the armies prisoner._**

**_However, with the help of the now-resurrected Lyon of Grado, Ike and five others escape the castle without detection. Without wasting a second more, the seven of them approach the land that used to be Grado through the forests of Renais. When they reach the border between Renais and Grado, Lyon teleports them the rest of the way to the enchanted garden of Katchei, which has been concealed in the lava that has covered Grado for several years._**

**_Upon entering the garden, the gears of fate slowly begin to turn in Ike's favor..._**

Chapter 14: Katchei's Enchanted Garden

The wind settled from where they had warped, and the group found themselves among some of the most beautiful foilage they had ever seen. For Ike, it was exactly as he had envisioned it in his dream; flowers bloomed everywhere, and the trees themselves seemed to burst with a strange kind of life that was foreign to every single person in the group. They gaped in awe for a few moments, taking in the sight that was amplified very well by the moonlight that hovered overhead.

"This is beautiful..." said Alyosha softly in a strange kind of whisper.

"It is..." said Maria.

"'Ey, whaddye dink yer doin'?" asked Willie.

"Willie's right," said Cormag. "We're here to figure out more about what's going on, not to look at plants."

"Well, you do have to admit that this is a beautiful garden," said Lyon with a shrug. "But you have a point."

"So this is where the garden is?" asked Seth. "What happens to anybody that gets here?"

"I would not know," said Lyon. "But that is business for some other time. Let us find the women and see what they can tell us."

"The women?" asked Alyosha as the group walked on.

"I had a second dream," said Ike, walking up to the large man as they moved. "There were a bunch of ladies there. I guess this is where they are..."

Maria shrugged at all of this and kept on walking. She knew she had to trust other sources now; her hearing had not been as good as it used to be before she became pregnant with Ike's baby.

Suddenly, Maria heard something close by where they were that sounded like apples being plucked and thrown about. As soon as she heard this, she motioned for the group to stop, and they all paused at exactly the same moment.

"Hey, what's that?" she asked in a half-whisper.

The group shrugged, and then Maria edged forward, using the bushes that were nearby as cover and creeping in, just parting the leaves so she could get a look. After this, she suppressed a giggle, and turned to the men and motioned them to where she was. The men walked towards her, kneeling down and peeking through the bushes to see what Maria was laughing about.

When they parted the bushes, they found eleven women clad in white dresses running about laughing. They also noticed the little golden apples that they were throwing about the place with rapid strokes of their arms. They were all recognizable as they ran around throwing the apples this way and that.

"Is... is dat Viordilegi?" asked Willie in a half-whisper.

"It is," said Maria. "And..."

"Eirika!" said Seth as she watched Fiordiligi and Eirika take up a part of the field they were in just in time to catch an apple that was headed towards them.

"Wow..." said Lyon under his breath. "She is more beautiful than I remember her to be..."

"Princess Tana?" asked Cormag softly as the group saw a woman with bright blue hair run into the scene gleefully, chasing Eirika down playfully.

"You know Tana?" asked Lyon quickly.

"I was inducted in her service after what happened here," said Cormag with a shrug.

"Wait..." said Ike as his eyes fell upon a woman with brown hair and another one with hair a stark shade of purple. "My goodness! It's Mist and Mia!"

"You know those two?" asked Alyosha.

"I should know," said Ike. "One was in my mercenary company for years and the other is my sister!"

"'Ow'd dey get all deh way 'ere?" asked Willie.

"I don't know," said Ike with a shrug.

"My goodness..." said Cormag, just as he noticed a woman with green hair running and chasing after two women, one of them with red hair and the other with hair of a subdued shade of lavender. "Lady Syrene is here too!"

"And Tethys and Marisa are here too!" said Seth softly. "How did Gerik fail to protect them?"

"And who are those other two people?" asked Maria as she eyed two blonde women with long braids.

"My god..." said Alyosha. "It is Anna and Nastenka!"

"Where they living in your village?" asked Lyon.

"Yes," said the large man. "Now I understand why the elders wanted her out of the way..."

"Her, meaning the lady we saw when we met you?" asked Ike.

"Yes," said Alyosha.

The girls kept up their games with what looked to be a whole group of golden apples for quite some time, the seven of them looking on in astonishment as they saw the women they all knew well throwing the apples around.

"Oh, boy..." said Ike. "This is very wierd..."

"You're telling me this?" asked Cormag with a glance. "This is scary, that's what it is."

"But my question is, how do we get to them?" asked Lyon.

The prince's question was answered when suddenly a stray apple flew into the bushes and whacked Willie in the face.

"Aaaaoooow!" cried the Cockney boy, clutching his eyepatch as he fell back. "Me eye!"

"Well, I guess that answers that concern," said Maria as the women suddenly turned their heads towards the direction that Willie's call had come from.

"Show yourselves!" said Fiordiligi authoritatively. "Or so help me Sharotal, I'm tossing another apple in your direction!"

The group stood up as one unit with Alyosha helping Willie to his feet as he brought his hands away from his face. And one by one, they walked into the field that the girls had been inhabiting up to that point. All of the girls either widened their eyes in surprise or tilted their heads.

The shock of this was over as suddenly, Fiordiligi ran over to Willie and pulled him into her tight embrace.

"Willie!" said Fiordiligi, who had literally lifted the Cockney boy up into the air and was swinging him arond. "You're all right!"

"Me eye ain't never good," replied Willie.

Upon hearing this, Fiordiligi loosened her hold on Willie and suddenly noticed the eye patch that was on Willie's eye.

"Goodness!" said Fiordiligi, violently repelled at the thought of the strong-willed Cockney boy losing his eye. "What happened?"

"It's a pretty long story," said Maria, who approached Fiordiligi as she and Willie turned to look at her.

"Seth?" asked Eirika. "You went all the way to Grado...?"

"Of course, milady," said Seth in reply. "Why would I not?"

"Seth, I want to talk with you in private," said Eirika.

"Of course," said Seth as the two of them walked off into the foilage.

"Cormag!" cried Tana excitedly, literally jumping on the wyvern knight in her excitement.

"Oof!" he said as he landed on the earth. "Tana, not so rough, please..."

"You're here for me!" said Tana happily.

"But, milady, I don't even know if you're going to get busted out yet!" exclaimed a flustered Cormag.

"Oh, come off it!" said Tana. "A knight ought to be informal with his lady somehow!"

Cormag shook his head as the princess of Frelia laughed.

Alyosha found himself being approached by the two women he knew from his village. The two of them eyed him curiously, sapphire orbs looking over him.

"Alyosha Popovich," said the taller woman of the two. "What brings you here?"

"It is a very long story, Anna," said Alyosha with a shrug. "The elders wanted me to take your sister to the hut on chicken's legs in Rausten. On the way, I met these people and joined them."

"And where is your trusty axe?" asked the shorter woman, who was apparently Nastenka.

Alyosha suddenly found he could not speak about his axe without seeming to be ashamed of himself for losing it. But, he swallowed a gulp and proceeded to tell the two ladies his story.

"Ike?" asked Mist, as she and Mia suddenly came forward. "Is that really you?"

"Mist..." said Ike, unsure what to say.

There was silence, and then suddenly Mia and Mist both latched onto the mercenary.

"You had us worried there, boss!" said Mia.

"I thought I'd never seen you again!" said Mist, crying tears of joy as she spoke.

"Mist, Mia..." said Ike softly. "Why'd you two come all the way out here?"

"We missed ya," said Mia with a weak smile. "Especially Mist."

"So we wanted to come find you," said Mist, choking on sobs as she spoke. "Oh, I'm so happy right now..."

"Aha, so these are the two people from Tellius!" exclaimed Maria a little too loudly as she, Fiordiligi, and Willie approached the three of them.

Mist and Mia both looked over to the energetic cat laguz, the two of them putting on strange faces.

"Oh!" said Ike with a laugh. "Mist, Mia, I'd like you to meet some people here. The laguz is Maria, the lady is Fiordiligi, and the boy is Willie."

"Nice teh meet yah, mu'um!" said Willie, coming forward and shaking Mia's hand ardently.

"Wow, that's... quite a bit of energy ya got there kid!" said Mia.

"Kid?" asked Fiordiligi. "Why, you? He has the brand on his shoulder, for the sake of Sharotal!"

"Oh, ya do?" asked Mia with a shrug and a wierd look.

"Yep, mu'um," said Willie. "Don't tell me ya 'ate us branded folks!"

"Not that," said Mia. "It's just, your accent's really wierd..."

"Oh, that," said Fiordiligi. "Leave that to a lifetime on the streets."

"Maria..." said Mist. "There's something about you and Ike... What is it?"

"Uh, Mist, are you sure you want to know?" asked Ike.

"Hey, she's your sister," interjected Maria. "She's got the right to know, yes?"

"Know about what, boss?" asked Mia, her attention suddenly diverted.

"Uh..." said Ike. "Maria is... pregnant... with my child..."

Mist and Mia gaped at him almost as iff something strange had happened.

"You what?" asked Mist loudly.

"Hey, Mist, hold yer horses!" said Mia with a laugh. "It's okay. Right?"

"Yeah, it's okay," said Mist. "But I don't get it. How did it happen?"

"It's a pretty long story," said Maria. "But it's great that I get to meet my lover's sister!"

"Same here," said Mist as her shocked mood slowly subsided.

Ike let out a sigh of relief at this.

"Wet's up?" asked Willie.

"I just thought it was goin' to be harder than that, that's all," said Ike with a calm expression on his face.

"Well, ya know we knew ya for quite some time, boss!" said Mia with a broad smile. "We'll take anythin' ya throw at us! Anythin'! Ya hear?"

"My, so much energy..." said Fiordiligi.

"So, that leaves us with our next question," said Mist. "Where are you three from?"

"We're from the continent of Greljedo, of course," said Maria with a shrug.

"Greljedo," said Mist. "Did you find anything there?"

"Absolutely," said Fiordiligi.

"Oh!" said Mia. "I wanna hear about it!"

"Well, okay," said Ike with a shrug. "It's a long story, so we should sit."

"Sure thing, boss!" said Mia.

The six of them sat down, and Ike began retelling the tales of the group's adventures on Greljedo.

Lyon stood to the side with Marisa and Tethys at his side. The dancer looked at the prince strangely, almost in disbelief.

"So you're not going to do anything at all?" asked the dancer.

"We have the entire night," said Lyon. "I can wait for them to finish if it is absolutely necessary."

The two women nodded and looked at the scene of happiness before them.

* * *

Eirika led Seth to a clearing in the large trees of the garden. The clearing they had walked to was beautiful; the flowers were in full bloom all around them, and the moonlight shone down on all of the flowers and left a strange kind of luminoscity on them all that was strangely pleasant.

As soon as they reached the clearing, however, Eirika turned to face the knight, the stern look in her eyes showing she was serious.

"One of the women here can read minds," said Eirika simply. "She can read minds from thousands of miles away, especially if they are in pain. And I asked about you, and she said that you tore yourself apart inside when I was kidnapped."

"Of course, Eirika," said Seth. "It's natural of one of my stature in relation to yourself to worry about you."

"But she said there was something else involved," said Eirika. "I want you to tell me something, Seth."

The queen edged closer to Seth, standing right in front of him so that it would be impossible for him to ignore her.

"How long?" she said simply, her eyes hard and determined to find answers.

"What?" asked Seth. "What are you talking about?"

"How long, Seth?" asked the queen again. "I know that somewhere in your heart, there's a part of you that denies me..."

"What do you mean?" asked Seth, trying his best to keep to himself as his defenses crumbled all around him.

"Oh, come off of it, Seth!" cried Eirika. "Be a man and admit your feelings!"

A tense silence came through the clearing, and Seth turned around so that he faced away from Eirika.

"Please, milady," said the knight as his final defense fell down. "I've tried so hard to supress these feelings; don't make it any harder on me to love my queen than it--"

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" cried Eirika angrily. "Forget about this 'queen' stuff! Treat me like a woman, Seth! I refuse to have you treat me like a queen any longer! Take me for what I am!"

Another silence took hold of the clearing, this silence being infinitely shorter than the one before it. With a sigh, Seth finally turned around and walked to Eirika, taking her hand in his as he looked into those teal eyes that were so perfect in every way.

"Eirika..." said Seth softly.

The queen was given no further warning before suddenly she felt the knight's lips brush against her own. The queen smiled brightly at this, almost as if she did not care about it at all. Eirika's reaction shocked the knight, who was suddenly at a loss for words for a few seconds.

"Eirika..." said Seth, almost breathless that Eirika was not in the least bit shocked. "You weren't--"

"All these years I tried to get you to open up," said Eirika softly. "It took a kidnapping in the midst of this war to finally get me as close as I had wanted you to be all these years."

And in that instant, Seth felt his entire world crumble around him until only Eirika and he were in it. Now the knight realized how stupid he had been not to notice the way she would command him to stop being so formal around her. And now, he felt bad about it.

But that feeling was minimal. For then, there was one truth, and one truth alone; Eirika had felt much the same way he did for five years.

"Milady..." said the knight softly. "I don't think this is--"

The lady hushed Seth with two of her fingers, and then she started the next kiss after she removed her hands.

Seth's inhibitions had been lowered, and this time the two of them relished in their kiss, the moonlight shining down on them as if it did not care at all for what was going on beneath it.

* * *

"So Katchei turns the people that try to come here into statues?"

"Yes. It's quite sad, actually."

"Oh dear. That can't be good."

"Are yeh kiddin' meh? Dat be 'orrible, mu'um!"

When Seth and Eirika had returned from their little diversion in the garden and Ike had finished telling the story of his journeys on Greljedo to Mist and Mia, everybody sat around in a large circle. Lyon had initiated the conversation, hoping to find out more information on Katchei and what he hoped to achieve by taking over the continent. And as Katchei's evil became more apparent, Ike became more convinced that he had to be stopped.

"So, he turns any resistance into statues?" asked Seth.

"Yes," replied Mist. "He's done it to the maidens that are not part of the thirteen as well..."

"That's terrible!" said a shocked Maria. "He can't do that!"

"Oh, dear..." said Alyosha. "But what is he after?"

"He's after somethin' in some 'Rausten', I dunno," said Mia. "Some 'Staff of Latona' or something."

"Staff of Latona..." said Seth. "That means..."

"Wait a minute..." said Ike, remembering a detail from his dream. "That's it! The Staff of Latona is the staff that turns into a woman!"

"Wait, what?" asked Nastenka, batting her bangs away. "I do not understand."

"I saw it in a dream," said Ike. "This staff turned into a woman and followed me everywhere. You were all in it too!"

"So why does he need us?" asked Fiordiligi.

"Because he needs you to wake that woman up..." said Maria. "And if that following around meant anything..."

A grave silence took hold of the garden as the implications of this sunk.

"Oh, dear..." said Cormag finally. "This could be bad."

"Dis _is_ bad, Governor!" cried Willie. "We need ta do somevin'!"

"But what do we do?" asked Lyon.

The group sat in silence before Alyosha raised a finger.

"We could go to the witch that lives in the hut!" said Alyosha. "She can help us!"

"But how?" asked Fiordiligi. "What do you expect of some old crone that lives in a strange house?"

"Do not underestimate the might of Baba Yaga!" retorted Anna, blue eyes simmering in a slight fury.

"Baba Yaga?" asked Maria. "Is that the witch's name?"

"Yes," said Alyosha. "We must go. Quickly!"

Before anybody could do anything else, though, the first light shone on the horizon, and to accompany this a trio of trumpets sounded from a long distance away.

"Oh, no..." said Tana. "This is bad!"

"We can't stay here any longer!" said Mia, the eleven maidens suddenly standing up.

"Quick!" said Mist. "You guys go hide somewhere! If you're good, the carillon won't find you!"

"You've got to go back?" asked Ike as the seven intruders abruptly stood up.

"We can't stay out here during the day!" said Anna quickly. "We must go back."

The eleven maidens retreated into the woods. As they retreated, Seth shook his head.

"I'll be back, Eirika!" cried the knight as the sun began to rise.

"We've gotta go find somewhere to hide, now!" said Maria. "Let's go!"

The group of seven had intended to jump back into the brush, but suddenly a loud bell was heard ringing loudly again.

"Oh, no..." said Lyon. "It's the carillon!"

And then the bells suddenly began to ring louder and louder, almost to the point that everybody had to cover their ears as they stood petrified to where they were with fear.

"Wadde we do?" cried Willie suddenly.

"Run!" shouted Maria.

"Where?" asked Ike.

"Anywhere!" cried Maria, before darting off in a random direction.

The remaining six followed as the carillon rose to a dynamic so loud that it was unbearable to the people.

And then, suddenly, from the trees burst forth a monster unlike anything they had ever seen before. It was a towering dragon with pale green scales that breathed fire from its nostils and spewed poison from its mouth. The group, shocked at this, reared back to turn around before they were stopped by a somewhat larger dragon with yellow scales that spewed copius amounts of poison that strangely enough did not affect the foilage beneath it.

The group then turned in another direction, but no further had they gone ten paces than a set of rusalki emerged slowly from the forest. This was enough to get Ike to walk backwards, powerless without their weapons with them and Maria not wanting to tempt fate by transforming and ultimately losing to the number of rusalki and the huge dragons that surrounded them.

As they found themselves surrounded by the monsters, they suddenly found that a low signal was blown throughout the entire land, and then suddenly the monsters parted to leave room for a single man to walk through. As the large man walked forwards, Lyon and the rest of the group stepped back.

The man in question was a very, very large man that was at least two heads taller than Alyosha with a staunch lizard-like complexion, his mouth being replaced with a snout and a thick tail wagging behind him. The lizard was also very muscularly built, and he was adorned in a wizard's garb that dared to expose a muscled body. In his hand, he held a large staff, and with a slow, predatory gait he approached them.

"Ah, so we have another set of scumbags that entered my magic garden..." said the lizardman as he paced around the group, the monsters closing the hole they had opened for him. "And among these scumbags is none other than Lyon of Grado! How amusing!"

"Katchei!" cried Lyon. "You won't get away with what you've done!"

"I won't?" asked the evil sorceror, an evil grin etched on his snout that exposed large, sharp teeth to the group. "That's quite surprising, coming from a small little piece of dirt such as yourself."

"'Ey!" cried Willie angrily. "Don't yeh go callin' noone no dirtbags!"

"Oh, and you even brought a street boy with you," said Katchei with a slight chuckle. "You'd think a prince would keep better company than this..."

"Hey!" said Maria, standing next to Willie and shaking her fist at the lizardman. "You leave Willie outa this, ya hear?"

"Oh, and you even brought a maiden with you!" said Katchei. "I guess your little mischief did pay off for me after all!"

"You can't have her!" said Lyon. "She is with child, damn you!"

The magician's snout instantly pointed itself at Lyon, and then anger flared in Katchei's eyes as he ran over and picked the prince up in his large hands.

"Why, you--!" said Katchei, breathing loudly and angrily so that Lyon could feel the breath of the monster on his face. "You insolent brat! I'll teach you not to make less women accessible to me!"

"He's not the father!" shouted Ike angrily. "I am!"

Katchei turned around, curiously walking over to the mercenary as he carelessly dropped the prince onto the ground.

"Oh, so you are the one making the women pregant," said Katchei, kneeling down so that his ruby eyes could gaze into Ike's sapphire orbs. "You fool! You thought you could take the whole continent from me!"

"He didn't make anybody else pregnant, asshole!" cried Maria. "You keep your hands off of him!"

"Oh, but somebody must be punished!" cried Katchei as he picked Ike up in his grasp and held his staff up.

"Keep your hands off of him!" cried Seth, rushing forward and pushing Katchei's leg out from under him so that the lizardman dropped Ike down on the ground and fell over himself.

"Why, you--!" cried Katchei, standing up and rushing towards Seth as the knight ran away.

This proved futile, however, for then Seth felt himself being flipped upside down and being hoisted up by his left leg so that his eyes gazed into Katchei's demonic eyes.

"You will not get away with that!" said Katchei. "Now, face my wrath!"

"Wait!" cried a female voice suddenly.

The monsters made another line, and then Katchei dropped Seth rudely so that the knight fell on his head. As Cormag and Alyosha helped the Silver Knight up, the eleven maidens they had just been talking with pranced rapidly into view, bowing before Katchei with Fiordiligi the last to emerge before the line closed. Quickly, Fiordiligi walked ahead of the other women and bowed before Katchei.

"My lord Katchei," said Fiordiligi, almost tempting Willie to shout at her if not for the hand on Maria's shoulder that seemed to tell him to calm down. "I implore you; please do not harm any of these young people. They are our friends, Katchei; please do not brush them aside like the dust!"

There was a brief pause in which Willie sighed in relief at Fiordiligi's words. However, Katchei simply shook his head.

"Insolent bitch!" he cried, sweeping the lady by her arm in his grip as he held her up off of the ground.

He did not even say anything as he brought the staff up to a struggling Fiordiligi. As a bright flash from his staff lit up the area even more than the sun was, Fiordiligi let out a cry that was stopped abruptly. When the light cleared away, a stone statuette of a figure exactly like that of Fiordiligi's was seen.

"Viorilegi!" cried Willie, stretching his hands out towards the stone statuette as it was dropped almost carelessly on the ground.

The ten remaining maidens huddled around Fiordiligi's statue quickly, kneeling down and lamenting the statue noisily.

"And now, for the rest of you insolent fools!" cried Katchei. "There's no escape, even from small promises!"

Promises. The word evoked something in Ike's memory.

Suddenly, the mercenary reached into his breastguard and pulled out the firebird feather that had been sitting in there for the longest time.

"The firebird..." muttered Ike under his breath.

Without warning, Ike held the firebird feather high, waving it around almost like a madman would. Katchei laughed at this display, shaking his head.

"Oh, you think waving a red feather around will stop me?" asked Katchei. "My magic is a thousand times more powerful than that puny little thing there!"

"I don't think so, Katchei!" cried Maria. "We just happened to stumble on the firebird when we first got here!"

"Foreigners?" asked Katchei with a surprised expression on his face. "What do you mean, 'first got here'? And what do you mean of the firebird?"

However, Katchei found his words taken away from him when Willie suddenly noticed the telltale light that signaled the firebird's arrival. As it got closer, Bonnie chirped excitedly and flew out of a set of branches she had been hiding in before she got snatched up by one of the dragons.

However, this did not stop the firebird from arriving, with Katchei looking at it, eyes going wide in shock.

"No..." said the sorceror, his pupils contracting in fear.

Before anything else could be done, the firebird let out a loud shriek. Suddenly, the air burst with a strange kind of fire that fell onto the monsters slowly. The rusalki began to cry out in agony as the dragons stormed about. The ten maidens were left to wonder in dangerous territory as Katchei himself jumped up and down trying to put his clothes out as they too realized that the fire could affect them.

In the midst of all of this chaos, nobody noticed the firebird shrieking a second time, and with this second time, a large feather fell from the sky around the seven people that needed rescuing, and a set of loud calls followed this.

"'E says teh get da feaver!" cried Willie, rushing to grab a hold of the feather.

The other six needed no other prompting to grab the feather. Seth looked to see if he could find Eirika in the crowd, and when he did and their eyes connected, he gave an unhappy look to Willie.

"Why can't we rescue the maidens?" asked Seth loudly.

The firebird called several more times.

"'E says dat as long as dey be under 'is contre, dey cain't never leave dis garden!" cried Willie. "Dey be in some kind ef... spell, I dunno!"

Before anybody could say anything else, the firebird flew down to the seven of them, and with a third cry the fire and Ike's group all dissapeared, leaving the monsters there to wonder what had just transpired.

However, Katchei noticed the linnet bird that one of the dragons had managed to keep in its claws in all of the chaos. Smiling smugly, the sorceror took the linnet bird out of the dragon's hand. He did not even say anything as he crushed the bird in his grip, opening his hands and letting the shower of blood, bones, and organs rain down onto the ground.

With a shake of his head, he turned to his monsters.

"We will get them next time!" said Katchei.

As the monsters left, the ten maidens stayed there, all of them looking up at Katchei with wide eyes.

"And as for you," said Katchei with an evil leer as he leaned towards them. "You're getting the special treatment for that little stunt you pulled there.'

Without warning, Katchei took Mia into his hand, and the other women cowered back as Katchei slowly walked away, letting out a maniacal laugh as he proceeded onwards.

* * *

Meanwhile, the seven of them found themselves teleported to a distant place, where the foilage was suddenly much less beautiful than it had been in Katchei's garden. As the group stood up, they sighed in relief.

"Good," said Cormag. "We're outa there. That's good."

"But the maidens are still in danger!" said Seth loudly. "What are we going to do?"

The firebird chirped almost angrily at Seth.

"'E says not teh worry bout dem," said Willie with a shrug.

"Yeah," said Maria. "We'll get back there eventually."

"Yep," said Ike. "What now?"

"What I want to know is where we are," replied Lyon.

The firebird chirped flatly at this comment, which left Willie wondering a few things.

"'E says we be in 'Norv Rus'en', Governor," replied Willie. "I cain't say it roight..."

"You mean Rausten," suggested Lyon.

"Yep, dat be it Governor!" exclaimed Willie.

"Northern Rausten," said Alyosha softly.

Without warning, the large man walked into the woods, the rest of the group following him.

"Alyosha, what're you doing?" asked Cormag.

"We must find the hut of Baba Yaga," said Alyosha. "She will be able to help us defeat that monstrosity, I know it."

"Okay, then, so this is about Baba Yaga now," said Lyon.

"Look, it's the only place we'll find anything," said Cormag. "So unless you want to go wallow in this Katchei's reign, I guess you need to follow us."

The group followed Alyosha, Lyon going last as the firebird flew above Ike.

"Oh!" said the mercenary as the firebird chirped again. "Thanks!"

The firebird called before perching on Ike's head. The mercenary grimaced at the feeling of the bird resting on his head, to which Maria laughed quite heartily as they continued on their search for the hut of Baba Yaga.


	15. Chapter 15: Baba Yaga

Wow. I have not had to explain anything over the past few days. But basically, almost everything that happened last chapter is all stuff from Stravinsky's ballet on _The Firebird_. The part where the girls throw the apples around constitutes the 'Princess's Game with the Golden Apples' music, and then when they start to catch up to each other is the bridge between that movement and the start of the 'Rounds of the Princesses'. That little scene between Eirika and Seth comprises the second half of that movement, and then no music is supposed to be for the pow-wow part. But then, the part where the trumpets blow constitutes 'Daylight', and when the bells start ringing is the start of the 'Magic Carillon, Appearance of Katchei's Monster Guardians, and Prince Ivan's Capture', and then a whole lot of music goes after Katchei's entrance all the way to when the Firebird warps them away (Arrival Of Katchei The Immortal; Dialogue Of Katchei And Prince Ivan; Intercession Of The Princesses; Appearance Of The Firebird; and Dance Of Katchei's Retinue, Enchanted By The Firebird).

What happens after all that shebang changes a lot, though. Instead of warping the hero away, the firebird enchants the subjects and makes them dance till they fall asleep. And then, Katchei is killed, the princesses are rescued, and everybody lives happily ever after. Of course, in the interests of lengthening the story, we're rejoining the ballet at a later date (from the Infernal dance via the Berceuse and Katchei's Awakening and Death through the Finale). Oh, and Katchei was actually originally an ogre, not a lizardman, and it was originally spelled Kashchei. That should be mentioned.

And since we're going into the territory of hardcore Russian myth now, let's get talking about Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga is the most famous witch of Slavic mythology (and arguably one of the most famous witches of all time), known mostly because she appears in all but a few tales in the pantheon (namely the original Ruslan and Ludmilla epic by Pushkin and the bogatyr stories). She is usually interpreted in a variety of ways, from being a good guy to being a bad guy. The one thing that's constant, however, is the house that this book of _Legend_ takes its title from; the hut on chicken's legs. Aside from that feature, it also features a fence made of human skulls and, in some tales, three knights that stand for the sun, day, and night. Baba Yaga also rode on a mortar with a pestle as her paddle, and to cover her tracks she kept a broom in her other hand and swept the tracks away. Baba Yaga's pretty interesting, and a lot of references are made to her. :D

But anyways, that's enough author's notes. Here's the chapter, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**_Ike's encounter with Katchei, ruler of the enchanted garden of Grado, leaves the group dazed and with some answers to their questions. However, they realize they still need the answers to the way to defeat Katchei. The near-death encounter they had with him, however, proves that Katchei is one of the greatest threats to Magvel since the passing of the Demon King._**

**_Alyosha thus leads the group to the hut of Baba Yaga in Rausten, where they warped after their encounter with the evil magician. Despite the apprehension they feel in their souls, the group decides to press forward, and their patience is paid off as they approach the hut..._**

Chapter 15: Baba Yaga

Alyosha advanced through the woods, the other six people and the firebird following closely behind a they walked past the trees that suddenly seemed to be more sinister as they went through.

Willie was beginning to have a strange sense of foreboding at the sun setting in the sky, and he gulped nervously as they advanced.

"How much farther?" asked Lyon inquisitively.

"Not much longer," said Alyosha softly. "Soon, we shall be at the hut."

"Okey, Governor," said Willie, shivering a little.

Ike shrugged and continued walking.

Finally, Alyosha stopped, and then walked forward a little.

"Here we are," he said as the group walked out from behind the trees to see the house before them.

The house they were looking at turned out to be standing on the legs of a chicken with no visible doors or windows. Surrounding the house was a fence of skulls that had just begun to be lit eerily in the coming night, and in the yard sat nothing in particular.

"Oh der, Governor..." said Willie. "Dis be... Ah, me goddess!"

"Calm down, Willie," said Maria. "You'll be fine."

"So, where is Baba Yaga?" asked Cormag.

"Yeah, I certainly don't see her around here," said Seth with a shrug.

"She comes back to her home at night," said Alyosha. "I remember having to wait all day for her to arrive at sunset."

"Well, it's sunset right now," said Ike. "I don't know why she's not here."

"Wait," said Maria as her ears picked up a strange kind of grinding noise from behind her. "What's that?"

The rest of the group listened carefully, and then they all looked behind them to find an old woman plowing through the forest riding on an oversized mortar that trailed on the ground. She paddled with what looked to be an oversized pestle, and in her other hand she swept away with a broom. The old woman approached the house, and simply gazed up to notice the group standing there with the firebird perched on Ike's shoulder.

Without further ado, she paddled up to the side of the house, the oversized mortar standing upright almost abruptly. The old woman then floated down almost calmly onto the ground approaching the group from the side that Lyon was on as Alyosha came out from behind Ike.

"Ah, Alyosha," said the old woman. "You have come again, with plenty of friends, nonetheless."

"Yes, Baba Yaga," said Alyosha with an nod. "We need information, and quickly."

"You have encountered Katchei, I gather," said Baba Yaga.

Alyosha opened his mouth to reply when the old woman noticed Ike standing there.

"You," said the old woman, pointing at the mercenary with a boney finger. "Come forward."

Ike looked to Maria, who nodded at the mercenary. He then walked so that he stood next to Alyosha. When Ike was close to Baba Yaga, the witch eyed the young man.

"So we meet at last," said Baba Yaga. "Ike, son of Gawain."

"W-what?" asked Ike, caught off guard for a brief second.

"'Ow'd yeh no 'o 'e is?" shouted a shocked Willile.

"I can see it all from my cauldron," said Baba Yaga calmly. "I have seen plenty of your exploits on Tellius and Greljedo young one, and I must say I am impressed. Impressed enough, that I sent you visions."

Ike tilted his head to the side.

"So you're the one that's been sending me those dreams..." said Ike.

"Indeed," replied Baba Yaga. "I was going to send you the third vision tonight, but since you are here I might as well let you into my house."

"Of course," said Alyosha. "How has Vasilissa fared during her stay?"

"Just marvelous," said the old lady.

"Vasilissa?" asked Seth. "As in, your charge?"

"Yes," said Baba Yaga as she walked towards her house, the group following her through the fence of skulls. Willie cringed as he walked by the skulls that still frightened him considerably. "Now, let me turn my house around and I'll be right with you.

The witch walked forward and cleared her throat, facing the house and looking up at it.

"Hut, o hut, turn your back to the woods, your front to me!" cried the old woman.

Without missing a beat, the house suddenly vibrated a little, and the chicken legs came to life. As Ike and the group noticed this, the house turned completely around on its legs, revealing a door on the backside of the hut that Baba Yaga slowly walked up to. She turned to the group who, except for Alyosha, stood there completely mesmerized by the house.

"Well, are you coming?" asked Baba Yaga?

"Oh, ef curse, mu'um!" replied Willie as he dashed towards the door. The rest of the group slowly followed, amazed at what they had just seen.

The old woman opened the door of the rather simple hut that the hut leaned down towards Baba Yaga to open. Inside was a very simple setting, the hut being fairly small and just barely able to hold ten people in it. Working at the stove was the young woman that Ike and Maria had met in Jehanna, and in the center of the room was a small cauldron with still waters that rested inside. The young maiden looked to the door as Baba Yaga and the rest of the group entered, her eyes widening when she saw Alyosha.

"Alyosha?" asked the young woman as she stood up from the kneeling position she had been in front of the stove. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to come back, Vasilissa," replied the large man. "Things have happened."

"Yeah," said Ike as he entered the hut, the firebird just ducking its head under the opening. "And we've got to get to them fast, too."

"You're the man I met in Jehanna..." said Vasilissa. "I apologize for the strange introduction."

"Don't worry about it," said Ike. "We've got more important things to do anyway."

"Good," said Baba Yaga as the last of the group entered and the house stood erect on its legs again. "Now, sir, come to me, and I shall show you the last vision."

Ike nodded and walked to where Baba Yaga was. The old lady was standing next to the cauldron, and she motioned for everybody to gather around it.

"Now, watch carefully," said the witch, waving her hands as the waters in the cauldron rippled to life. "This will only be shown once."

The witch waved her hands in a final gesture, and then, the group saw a strange egg levitating in front of the figure of Katchei and a large orb of magic he was holding in his hand.

"Hm?" asked Ike, tilting his head to the side as everybody inched closer to get a better view of the cauldron.

The egg danced around a little bit at Katchei's command, and as it shone brilliantly, the lizardman smiled maliciously.

The egg suddenly broke however, and with this the orb in his hand shattered as well. Katchei was only able to put on a shocked expression before a sword that had an uncanny resemblance to Ragnell was shoved into his abdomen, thus killing the lizard man as he fell over.

The cauldron rippled out into a blackness, and the group looked at each other with shrugs. The firebird chirped flatly, looking over to Ike plainly.

"So, let me see if I've got this right," said Ike. "That egg is controlling Katchei's life."

"That's right," said Baba Yaga with a nod.

"So all we need to do is destroy that egg and kill Katchei..." said Seth slowly. "And then, the garden will disappear, the spirits will disappear, all of Katchei's magical creations will disappear, and Magvel will be safe again."

"That is right," said Baba Yaga, smiling and showing her crooked teeth.

"Okey den," said Willie.

"Okay..." said Maria. "I think we know what we've gotta do here."

"But we can't take them all by ourselves," said Cormag with a shrug. "We should try to go back to Frelia and rescue our friends."

"Wait a minute..." said Alyosha.

"'Ey!" cried Willie. "Wet abut dem volks in Vrelia?" asked Willie angrily. "Wet ef dem?"

"Oh, so you want to see them?" asked Baba Yaga. "Vasilissa, get me some herbs from the garden, please."

"Right away, madam," said the girl with a bow. The hut leaned down again, Lyon frowning at the fact that nothing seemed to lean over when the house itself leaned over. As Vasilissa had gone out into the garden to fetch the necessary plants, Lyon looked at Baba Yaga with a confused look on his face.

"Pray tell me, Baba Yaga;" said Lyon. "How does this house manage to lean over without seeming like it is leaning over?"

"It is all magic, my dear," said the old woman. "Ask any more, and I shall have to kill you where you stand."

The room was effectively silent, the firebird flapping its wings in a sort of frightened way. Vasilissa walked back into the hut with the herb, and it reverted to standing position as the young maiden handed a strange plant to the old woman.

The young woman handed the plant to Baba Yaga, who proceeded to throw it into the cauldron quickly, the cauldron bubbling fervently as the herb was digested by the waters inside the cauldron.

Then, the image of a woman and an old man standing a short distance from each other slowly rose to the surface of the boiling cauldron. As the image became clearer, the man was seen tied to a pole and being whipped for answers from the woman. The image then became so clear that the faces could be made out, and the scene was shocking yet somehow expected.

"L'arachel!" said Maria.

"Saint Latona, it's king Mansel!" cried Cormag.

"Bly me!" cried Willie. "She be wippin' deh livin' dayloights outa 'im!"

"But why?" asked Lyon.

"She seeks to know where Latona's Staff is..." said Baba Yaga slowly.

"And you need Latona's Staff to..." said Alyosha, his words trailing off midsentence as they watched the king being whipped by his own niece.

The scene slowly shifted, however, and then a marketplace was seen in broad daylight. People were rushing to and fro through the market to see a familiar man attached to a strange sort of device with a blade hovering above his neck and fear rampant in his eyes.

"Saint Latona!" cried Seth. "What did they do to my king!?"

Seth got his reply very quickly, for then the image showed the blade falling down rapidly onto the king's neck, where suddenly Ephraim's head flew away from the rest of his body and onto the ground, where a sumptuous pool of blood gathered.

"Bly me!" cried Willie.

"No!" cried Ike into the cauldron as the image rapidly faded away.

There was a complete silence in the tent for a few seconds, everybody staring at the cauldron in disbelief except for Baba Yaga. After a while, everybody felt a strange tingling sensation in their necks, but this subsided very quickly as the shock of Ephraim's death overcame them all.

"This confirms my fears," said Lyon as soon as the shock died down. "We must return to Frelia at once!"

"But how?" asked Cormag. "We have no means to get there quickly!"

"Ahaha!" cackled Baba Yaga, raising her hand in the air with a sole finger pointing up to the ceiling. "Never you mind. I can get us there faster than any pegasi ever can!"

"And 'ow de yeh do dat?" asked Willie, his expression turning skeptical.

"You didn't think those chicken legs were attached to the hut for a reason?" asked Vasilissa, who was already bracing things against the walls as Baba Yaga waved her hands around and suddenly everything in the house began to jingle.

There was silence in the tent, but even that was easily broken by the clattering of loose pots and pans, of which Vasilissa proceeded to brace against a wall or each other or anything else that proved to be stable ground.

"Oh, dear..." said Ike.

"This is the part where we've gotta hang on to something, isn't it?" asked Maria.

"Yes!" replied Baba Yaga as she waved her hands in front of her cauldron. "Hang on tight, everybody! This is going to be one wild ride!"

Baba Yaga raised her hands in the air, and the cauldron boiled to life once again as everybody except Willie braced against a piece of furniture or a wall.

"Wait, wet's goin' on 'ere?" asked Willie, shrugging his shoulders.

He did not get his reply, for suddenly, a violent shaking took hold of the hut, and then Willie was knocked off of his feet and sent rolling towards one of the walls, where he unceremoniously tripped Cormag and Lyon so that all three were in a heap against the corner.

"Bly me!" cried the Cockney boy, his voice muffled by the two men above him. "Wet 'appened 'ere?"

Ike looked out of the windows that suddenly materialized from nowhere to see the forest seeming to go by at a fast rate as everything in the house shook and created a lot of noise inside. However, it suddenly occurred to Ike that the forest could not move itself, and so he turned to Willie.

"The hut's running!" cried Ike. "It's running really fast!"

And so the hut of Baba Yaga ran through the forest, jumping so often to dodge an obstacle. Before they knew it, the hut was in the mountains, jumping over the peaks in its haste and leaving a foot-shaped crater in the side of the mountain with each landing from a jump. The group was sure they would reach Frelia before anything very tragic happened to the people that were still imprisoned in the castle, but they knew not to take chances and so held on for dear life and prayed with all of their might as the hut on chicken's legs ran forwards.

* * *

When the night had fallen over Magvel, Baba Yaga's hut had slowed to a stop very close to where Castle Frelia stood. Now, it was almost completely silent as it leaned against the castle walls to listen to whatever was going on inside.

Whatever the hut was hearing was transferring into the space inside the hut so that everybody around the cauldron could hear it. Also seen was what was going on, thanks to a projection in the cauldron. They sat there, shocked at Mansel's whippings as a helpless Joshua looked on, powerless to do anything from where he was tied to a pillar with ropes and chains. The group knew something had to be done, but Baba Yaga had ordered them to stay in the hut at all costs.

After a while, Lyon could not stand such bloodshed. Frowning, he faced Baba Yaga angrily.

"Is there nothing we can do?" asked the prince as the whippings continued.

"Relax, dear," said Baba Yaga. "I am waiting for when that brazen hussy least expects it!"

"Well, could that moment please come sooner?" asked Seth. "I'm worried about leaving Mansel in such a state."

However, L'arachel suddenly let out a very maniacal laugh, and Baba Yaga's eyebrows rose as she heard this. Instantly, the witch snapped her fingers. Before anybody could say anything, Ragnell suddenly appeared in Ike's hand, Cormag, Maria, and Seth were all holding their lances, Willie's magic tome was in the Cockney boy's grasp, and Alyosha was holding his trusted axe.

"Wait outside the gate," said the witch, the hut leaning over so that Willie opened the door and found himself leaning towards the ground. "You will know when to go in."

Without another word, Ike and the crew left, Maria attempting to transform but finding that something was barring her from transforming. They slinked closer to the gate as the hut stood upright once again. Inside the hut, Vasilissa looked to the witch as she raised her hands and waved them in the air.

Ike looked back and noticed the night materializing into what looked like a miniature spirit army of their own. Dogs, wolves, zombies, and a whole slew of other nightly phantasms occupied the space behind the small group, almost seeming ready to grasp the spirits in their jaws any second. The mercenary nodded with a smirk on his face as the night beings creeped ever closer to the gate.

"Now," said Ike.

Without further ado, Ike raised Ragnell high in the air. Taking this as a signal, the night spirits suddenly rushed against the castle doors, breaking them instantly. Without losing momentum, they then proceeded to quickly kill most of the spirits in one shot. The spirit that had been whipping Mansel on a wooden stake suddenly stopped and looked at the doors as Ike and crew rushed into the palace, the nightly phantasms seemingly devouring the spirits in the room.

Without missing a beat, Ike leapt above the stake, Ragnell in his hand as he attempted a jump slash at L'arachel. Seeing this, the shocked woman jumped away, only to have to duck under a fireball that Willie had summoned in her direction.

"You!" cried L'arachel, raising her hands up and charging up a large ball of light.

"Yeah, us!" cried Maria as she and the rest of the group looked at her wildly with their weapons in hand. "You're gonna pay for what you did to Ephraim and to Mansel!"

"Guys!" cried Joshua from his bindings against the pillar. "You're here!"

"Of course," said Ike. "We're not one to miss the show."

Before more words could be exchanged, however, L'arachel sent the ball of light flying in the group's direction, which was only quelled by a shield of blackness that Lyon had summoned. Seth jumped so that he only had to take one more bound before he was face to face with the former queen of Renais. When he was close, he delivered a slash with his lance that missed its target. Maria came from another angle and aimed at her with a stab which the deranged woman dodged as well.

When Maria swung a few more times at the young woman, she found herself suddenly getting flung away like a paper doll, and as Alyosha and Cormag both took her place she found herself getting caught midfall by one of the night phantoms that Baba Yaga had summoned to aid them.

Alyosha and Cormag all attempted blow after blow, all of them either being dodged or being deflected against shields of light that L'arachel would occasionally create. A few times, Seth and Ike would intervene with blows of their own, but these were deflected with light shields that were summoned in the blink of an eye.

It was not until Willie hurled his next fireball at the girl that the group finally made a mark on her. As soon as L'arachel had to dodge the fireball, she rolled out of the way. She also rolled into a range where Ike was able to slash her in the back. He did so, the blood absolutely gushing out from the wound in her back copiously. After this, Lyon raised his hands high in the air, and as a magic circle levitated in the air a dark ball of energy suddenly came from the floor and almost devoured L'arachel.

Growling like a wolf, L'arachel turned around and nailed Ike straight in the chest with a light ball. This sent Ike flying a good distance away. However, before she could do anything else Alyosha ran up to her and sunk his axe into her shoulder.

With a cry of pain, L'arachel also blasted Alyosha away with a ball of light. Before Seth, Cormag, or Maria could take advantage of this break, the wounds instantly healed themselves and the woman was ready for battle once again.

Willie, angry at the woman, sent a fireball flying at her that was deflected with a shield at such an angle that Cormag had to run a good distance to keep himself from being charred by it. Maria went in for a stab only for it to be deflected by a light shield as Alyosha and Ike were caught by he night phantoms. Seth ran in and with Maria, tried to rain blow after blow on L'arachel, only to be pushed back by a light shield when Maria finally landed a blow on the evil woman.

The fight went on for quite a long while, L'arachel's instant healing abilities getting the best of the situation as blow after blow was perpetrated against her person. Her clothes were ripped and bloodied so much to the point that the blood began to pool all over the floor, and with stab after fireball after dark energy after yet another slash that was landed on her person she seemed to get more feral as time went on.

Finally, the woman was so angry that she finally erected a shield that sent all of the fighters in random directions, leaving them to be caught by the night phantoms. The woman suddenly performed hand signals in front of her, her face slowly beginning to show signs of being completely taken over by Katchei's powers.

However, before much else could be done, Baba Yaga and Vasilissa both ran into the vicinity, the young girl running right in front of L'arachel and holding her hands out in front of L'arachel's face.

"Begone, demon!" cried Vasilissa, her face contorted in concentration as L'arachel's face slowly returned to normal. "Begone, and leave this woman's soul alone!"

And almost as quickly as Vasilissa said this, the red in L'arachel's eyes retreated back to reveal the woman's own, softer shade of green eyes. After stumbling back for a bit and looking around, she shook her head and looked around.

Hate-filled glances were cast at her from every which way, and the queen was confused as she looked around the room, her eyes falling on her own bloodstained and torn dress as she glanced every which way. Her eyes fell on Mansel, who Ike and Alyosha were both unbinding from a stake and supporting with their large figures. Her gaze then went to Joshua, who struggled against bonds on a pillar of stone in a castle that she was not too familiar with. All of this confused her greatly.

"W... What happened?" asked the queen of Renais. "Where am I? I thought I was supposed to be doing good..."

Maria shook her head, dropping her lance and walking right up to the queen, nobody flinching as she delivered a harsh slap to her face.

"Are you stupid?" cried Maria angrily. "Did you really think Katchei would provide you with that chance?"

"H... how do you know his name?" asked L'arachel.

"Because I was in that garden, that's why!" said Maria.

"Yeh!" cried Willie. "An' now ya went roight an' did deh opposite!"

"The opposite...?" asked the queen.

"Don't you go making up excuses, bitch!" cried Joshua angrily, struggling against his chains even harder as a small gasp of shock cursed through the crowd. "You killed your husband, you whipped your uncle, and you turned in your own best friend to guys that intend to use them for evil!"

"And you're the one going around parading 'righteousness'!" cried Maria angrily. "Fiordiligi was right when she called you pretentious behind your back! I can't believe you actually agreed to be his pawn!"

"But he promised I would do good!" cried L'arachel.

"Then a gross deception has been practiced on you," said Baba Yaga slowly. "Katchei never keeps his promises. It is always about him, and him alone; eventually all of his underlings will be completely controlled. You, my dear, are one such case."

L'arachel suddenly saw the memories flash before her vision of what she had done; the beheading of Ephraim, the countless whippings of Mansel, and the times she had abused everyboy else in the army.

Horrified, she could only stare around as everybody else walked up to her, hate filling their eyes to the brim. L'arachel was so shocked that she could not even cry. She just stood there, her expression agape as everybody looked at her.

Finally, she broke down, grabbed the end of Seth's lance violently. Before anybody could do anything, the woman pulled the lance head into her torso, the pull so hard the end of the lance jutted out of her back.

Shock reverberated throughout the room as L'arachel spasmed against Seth's body in her final death throes. Finally, she stilled totally, the blood flowing down her mouth slowly as her breathing stopped.

Seth shook his head softly, pulling the lance head out of her body. The former queen of Renais would have fallen on the ground if not for the fact that Cormag caught her body midfall.

"Shes gone," replied the knight.

"Wy'd she do somevin' so...?" asked Willie, trailing off midsentence as Ike kneeled so that his face was level with L'arachel's.

"She was vain," replied Baba Yaga. "Vain, and hopelessly stupid."

"That describes her perfectly," said Cormag with a rolling of his eyes. "But seriously, why would she do this to herself?"

"Yeah, really," said Ike, shaking his head slowly. "Why?"

"I sensed a great turmoil in her heart," said Baba Yaga. "This information was too much for her mind."

"So should we bury her, or...?" asked Vasilissa.

"Sure," said Ike with a nod as he stood back up. "I'll also let the armies rest for a few days; they'll need it."

"We can spare some time now with L'arachel out of the way," replied Baba Yaga. "Very well. But we will be going as soon as possible for the armies."

"Understood," said Lyon with a nod.

"Um, that's great and all, but I don't see anybody trying to get me out of here!" cried Joshua loudly, still bound to the wall by chains.

"Ag!" cried Willie, running to L'arachel's corpse and frisking the body for the keys. "Don't yeh worry none, Governor! I'll get yeh outa dere any se--!"

The Cockney boy was interrupted as Baba Yaga snapped her fingers. Instantly, the ropes and chains were severed, and a great clatter was heard as the chains hit the floor. The sound was enough to interrupt Willie's speech for quite some time, Joshua walking up to him and giving him a good pat on the shoulder.

"I'm just glad you're alive, kid," said Joshua with a smile. "I thought you guys were dead for the longest time.

"Well, we're still alive thanks to this guy," said Ike, indicating Lyon with a hand gesture.

Joshua gave Lyon a confused glare, Mansel managing to do the same in his weakened state.

"How are you still alive?" asked the king of Jehanna. "I thought you died!"

"Oh, dear..." said Alyosha softly, shaking his head slightly. "This will be a very long story..."


	16. Chapter 16: Time to Rest

Okay, so more shit continues hitting the fan. Thankfully, now we'll be taking a break from that...

With a bit of angst. This chapter is pretty full of angst, so watch out!

So let's roll!

* * *

Chapter 16: Time to Rest

Maria sat on the bed in the middle of the day, thinking really hard and attempting to transform into her laguz state. But no matter what she did, she could not transform for the life of her.

Her senses of smelling and hearing had also been dimmed considerably. This was very disconcerting to Maria, as she now knew that she was past the point of no return in relation to her transformation to something that was neither laguz nor beorc.

She shook her head, the tears beginning to roll down her cheeks at the permanent loss of identity.

At this moment, Ike walked in, and he saw Maria crying on the edge of the bed.

In an instant, the mercenary knelt next to the cat laguz and took her hand, Maria looking at him sadly.

"I can't transform anymore," said Maria. "I think I've lost everything that makes me a laguz..."

Ike opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and instead sat on the bed next to Maria and pulled her into his arms.

She promptly cried softly on his chest as Ike patted her back comfortingly.

"There, there," said the mercenary softly. "I'm here."

From the crack in the door watched a silent Kuranga, who gazed on at the duo as Ike hugged the sobbing Maria. The dragon laguz looked down to the floor, shaking his head softly.

He had been wrong about Ike and Maria. And now, the truth and everything else was coming to him. Hard.

The poor dragon had been going through a deep bout of depression when he had entered the castle. He had been left alone for the most part as he was a seer and L'arachel said he could be of use to them; however, the dragon was powerless to stop her from killing Ephraim when the opportunity came.

Naturally, Kuranga was not very happy with this development. And he had the feeling he would not be happy with himself for a long time.

Almost on the verge of eliciting a tear at his feeling of uselessness, he walked away from the door, knowing that nobody would want to talk to him after his betrayal of his best friend.

* * *

Willie sat on the stones of the gate, Joshua sitting next to him as he brushed the last of the dust off of his now retrieved Audhulma. The sun lightly grazed their figures as it slowly set in the west, Willie's fingers combing through his hair as he sat next to the king.

Joshua had a sullen expression on his face from a combination of many different factors. The fact that he was now free again was comforting to him, but he still felt a little hollow inside from other things.

Firstly, the fact that he could not have saved Ephraim hit the king very hard; he knew Eirika would give him and Mansel a very hard time about it when she found out, but somewhere Joshua knew that he could never truly tell what Eirika would say to having her brother killed.

And then, there was Natasha. Joshua worried about his wife relentlessly during the time he had been imprisoned, and now with the hour of their liberation so close at hand Joshua's heart was racing in anticipation. No matter what, he knew he could never live with himself if he let Natasha down; the cleric had become a source of great happiness for the king, and he was determined to make sure that the happiness Natasha gave him was reciprocated.

So when he had finally retrieved Audhulma, he went outside for quite a while. Willie sat there without saying anything to the king, but he decided to say something as soon as the blade was cleaned.

"'Ey, Governor," said Willie with a smile. "Ye ain't lookin' so good."

"I know," said Joshua with a sigh, knowing that he could not get away with lying to Willie, of all people. "I'm trying my best not to crack under pressure here. I mean, between a friend dying, a wife in danger, and a sister of a friend who might yell at you, I think I'm pretty unlucky here."

"Eh, Governor," said the Cockney boy softly. "Yeh no wet Bonnie used tah tell meh?"

"What?" asked Joshua with a shrug.

"She told meh dat I shouldn't never worry," said Willie. "She told meh she saw lots o' blokes dat're worse dan eider ef us, and dat if we looked at it ferm deh roight side, den we'd be 'appy. We all 'ave problems, Governor; she told me never tah let dem get to meh, and I den't dink yeh kin do dat to yerself never, Governor."

"But how can I be optimistic when my wife is in danger?" asked Joshua with a hand gesture. "How is it possible?"

"'Ey, at least she ain't never dead yet," said Willie with a shrug. "When yeh look at it loike dat, yeh cain't go bad, never."

Joshua looked out at some point beyond the castle, pondering on Willie's words before facing him again.

"You know what?" asked Joshua with a shrug. "You're right. I'm better than this! I can't let this one moment get to me. I'll save Natasha from this Katchei myself!"

"Dat's it, Governor!" said the Cockney boy. "Now yah cain't go bad at all, never!"

"Yeah!" said Joshua, holding Auldhulma so that it gleamed in the sunset. "I'll get them all, and I'll make sure Natasha is safe!"

Willie could only nod and place a hand on Joshua's shoulder as the man nodded with a new fire in his eyes.

* * *

Seth sat on the bed, shaking his head almost constantly as he remained very deep in his thoughts about Eirika and Ephraim. The knight's hand was on his face, the fingertips just intruding into his auburn locks of hair as he thought hard about something he would not dare to reveal to the rest of the world.

As a thousand thoughts poured through Seth's mind all at once, the door opened, and Cormag took the liberty of walking into the room and noticed the knight sitting on the bed.

The wyvern rider shrugged and sat next to Seth.

"Hey," said Cormag. "What's the matter?"

"What am I going to tell Eirika?" asked the knight.

"The truth, of course," said the knight of Frelia.

"I know that," said the Silver Knight. "Just, what am I going to do to help her? Her own brother died, and it's all my fault!"

"Look, Seth, don't blame yourself," said Cormag as one of his arms came to rest on Seth's shoulders. "Katchei was indirectly responsible, you know? That's the one who did it."

"But it was my duty to watch over the king!" said Seth with a frustrated growl. "We could have gone back and saved him, I know it!"

"And gotten ourselves killed in the process?" asked Cormag. "Sure, Ephraim would be safe, but who'd be left to save the rest of the continent?"

"I don't care about the rest of the continent anymore..." sighed Seth softly, gazing down at the floor as his hand fell to his side. "My duty was to my king and my queen. I have failed my queen in keeping her from being captured, and I could not prevent my king's death. What more is there for me out there?"

There was a silence as Cormag contemplated what to say next. The wyvern rider's cobalt eyes darted around as he tried to think, and then he faced Seth.

"You've still got Eirika," said Cormag softly. "She's still alive."

"But what's she going to think of my failure?" asked Seth.

"She won't concentrate on your failure to help your king," said Cormag with a nod. "She will concentrate on you leaving her in the dark if you choose to do so. She couldn't care less about how you tell it; if you stay there for Eirika, then it's your gain."

The wyvern knight patted Seth's back as he stood up to leave the room.

"Give it some thought, and I'll be around here waiting for your answer," he said as he stood at the doorway.

The wyvern rider then left, leaving Seth to ponder on Cormag's words slowly.

* * *

Baba Yaga turned to face Ike in her hut, Vasilissa standing next to the witch as she finished preparing another piece of foodstuffs for Ike to eat.

"Thanks," said Ike slowly, examining the little brown ball in his hand and shrugging before popping it into his mouth. The taste was not bad, but he knew it could have been a lot better than it was. At least it did not smell awful, either. "So you called me here about something. What's up?"

"We shall be leaving in the morning," said Baba Yaga slowly.

"Yeah," said Ike, nodding his head. I know that.

"At least, you will be," said the witch. "You must go to face Katchei."

"What?" asked Ike. "You did not tell me this!"

"Baba Yaga and I must go to Rausten quickly," said Vasilissa. "The Staff of Latona is still there, and we all know Katchei is probably set to get it if we are not careful."

"So that means we must be left alone?" asked Ike. "But who's going to deal with the spirits while we go to kill Katchei?"

"I will attempt to prepare a charm tonight," said Baba Yaga with a nod. "If it is successfuly, it will allow you to summon the armies of shadows much the same way I myself did."

"But are you sure it's going to work?" asked the mercenary.

"There is a large chance it will fail," said Vasilissa. "Nevertheless, we must try."

"Eh, I don't see any need for you to try that out any time soon!" came a familiarly annoying voice from the opposite side of the door. Ike jumped up as Baba Yaga slowly rose.

"Solovey!" cried Ike. "You snuck in here too?"

"Relax, dear," said Baba Yaga as she walked to the door. "Solovey's spirit is calmer today."

"Calmer?" asked Ike, confused. "But isn't Solovey still kind of crazy?"

"That depends on your definition of 'calmer'," explained Vasilissa as Baba Yaga opened the door and let the birdman in, black feathers seeming to gleam dully in the light as Ike noticed a bag slung over his shoulder.

"Yeah, you haven't got nothing to worry about now," said Solovey slowly as he bowed to Ike. "Besides, I'd rather not have such a rude display shown at me when I came all this way to give this to you."

From the bag he had slung over his shoulder, the thief produced a blue staff identical to the one Ike had seen in his dream before it was transformed into a woman.

"T-that's Latona's Staff!" said Ike with a slight stutter.

"Aha!" said Baba Yaga, bowing down to Solovey and taking the staff from him ever so gently. "Now that charm will not be needed. Thank you very much."

"B-but I thought..." said Ike, almost speechless at Solovey's expression of good will.

"Don't think this means I'm on your side," replied Solovey with a steely expression on his eyes. "I don't work for anybody. I did that because Katchei's an asshole and somebody's gotta get rid of him."

"But doesn't that mean you'll dissapear?" asked Ike, confused.

"Not really," said Solovey. "It's similar to that 'Lyon' fellow you met the other day. Those of us with free will can't really be banished when the man who created us dies, no?"

"Yeah, but--!" said Ike, who was getting all the more confused by the sentence.

"Calm down," replied Solovey, cooly. "Just a 'thank you' will do."

Ike was still very confused, but he knew Solovey did have a point. Clearing his throat, the mercenary bowed to Solovey respectfully.

"Thanks," said Ike with a nod.

"There we go," said Solovey. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off to tend to some business somewhere."

With this, the birdman bowed to Baba Yaga, who bowed her head in appreciation of what he was doing. With this last gesture of respect, Solovey was out of the door, which closed after him. After Solovey left, Ike shook his head and sent a glare at Baba Yaga.

"Just what the hell was that all about?" asked Ike.

"In time, you shall see, my dear," said Baba Yaga. "He is not the spirit in the sense that he works for Katchei."

"I know that," said Ike with a shrug. "What else is there for me to find out?"

"You shall see," said Baba Yaga as she set the staff down on one of the counters. "At any rate, Latona's Staff is safe with us. The signature it gives off is undeniably that of Saint Latona herself."

"Good," said Ike with a sigh. "At least he didn't lie to us."

"He would never lie to Baba Yaga," said Vasilissa with a slight chuckle. "She has far too many powers that gaze into a person's heart for them to get away with lying."

"So we will be going with you when you face off against Katchei," said Baba Yaga. "And Vasilissa and the staff will stay here."

"Um, are you sure that is the best idea?" asked Ike. "What if Katchei takes the hut?"

"We will still be allright," said Baba Yaga. "You will see when we finally face off against Katchei."

"I hope you're right..." said Ike uncertainly as he looked out of the window and into the Frelian landscape beyond.

Ike was a little confused right then and there, but no matter what one thing mattered to him, and one thing only.

Katchei would pay for what he did. He would pay with his own blood, and Ike would make sure it would happen.


	17. Chapter 17: The Death of Katchei

And, after that angst, we're back to getting plot going. And this time, we're going out to watch some ass get kicked by the guys! So sit back, behave, and enjoy the final confrontation beween Katchei, Ike, and the spririts as all of the stakes are high and the competitors have nothing to lose. The final battle, folks!

* * *

**_After the brief break in Frelia in which Solovey gave Ike and Baba Yaga Latona's staff, the group makes off for the magic garden of Grado. Tensions are high as they trudge through the territory of Renais._**

**_As they pass by the land of the former king of Renais, tempers flare, and suddenly the group gets a new resolve to take down Katchei and his evil minions._**

**_This resolution seems to burn in Ike, who will stop at nothing to free Magvel from Katchei's grip which is so close to nabbing the entire continent._**

**_With this sentiment in their eyes, the group reaches Katchei's enchanted garden, the spirit of valor high in their beings as they run into the garden._**

Chapter 17: The Death of Katchei

The sun rose high that day, the army positioned in various hiding places that Baba Yaga was sure the Carillon would not spot until it was too late. The army had gotten as far into the foilage as possible, Lyon tracking the place where Katchei was with a magic signature. Ike, Willie, Maria, Cormag, Joshua, Lyon, Alyosha, and Seth all knelt at the head of the group, crouching behind a bunch of bushes in wait with the firebird perched on Willie's shoulder. Besides the human soldiers, Baba Yaga's spirit soldiers also knelt next to the army, and the hut had managed to become a wood thaks to Baba Yaga's magic. Now, the group waited for him to rise from his grotto.

His grotto was a very small place; the foilage gave way to a rather small cave outside of which the maidens had been tied down. Outside, two dragons had just arisen, a group of rusalki standing at attention waiting for Katchei to rise as well.

And the red lizardman finally did rise, walking forwards in all of his majestic glory as the sun rose high in the sky. He looked to the two rusalki and grunted.

"I grow tired of waiting," said the lizard cooly. "Bring me the maidens from their resting place, and summon the spirits here as well."

The rusalki walked off without any question, the dragon on the right of the lizardman groaning in complaint.

"Oh, shut up," said Katchei, waving a hand at the dragon dissmissively. "Today's the day, and I know it!"

The dragon snorted in a strange kind of embittered gesture.

"Oh, so that's how it is?" asked the warlock. "I get the girls together, and somebody else takes my victory? That's not going to happen at all. You'll see."

No sooner had Katchei said this than the magic carrillon began to ring at half the fraction of power that it had when Ike and friends had set it off. The group still had not seen the bells when the monsters then teleported in front of Katchei, the entire army forming a huge mass around the cave, nobody staying in a patch of woods, much to Ike's good fortune.

Soon afterwards, the rusalki that Katchei had ordered around teleported in the small space that was left between Katchei, the guardians, and the rest of the army. With them were the eleven maidens, with Fiordiligi still a statue and with the other maidens struggling against some strange kind of magical hold.

Willie almost started at the sight of Fiordiligi as a statue, but Maria stilled him with a hand on his shoulder, and so the army was not revealed too soon.

"Good day to you, ladies," said Katchei. "I trust your 'treat' was good for you?"

"You wouldn't dare do that to Mist!" cried Eirika angrily. "Not when she's so young!"

"Yeah!" cried Mia in addition. "Ya took it too far there!"

"And what are you going to do about it, hm?" asked Katchei, a wicked grin spread across his snout as Mist cowered back, looking to the ground. "Besides, I have a feeling today is the day that Latona reawakes from her slumber. And then, she shall be my servant, and I shall be the supreme ruler of Magvel forever and ever!"

"Not while Ike is still at large, you shall not!" cried Eirika angrily. "And not while my dear, beloved Seth is watching!"

"Oh, and you think watching your own brother's death by the hands of his wife could not dim his spirit?" asked Katchei evilly, his snout mere inches away from Eirika's nose as he said this. "And he left you in the dark for so long. Maybe he will chose this time to leave you?"

"I know Seth better than you ever will!" declared Eirika boldly. "My brother was a strong man in resolve, but Seth will go to any lengths for the things he cares most about! And I know he will be there for me!"

Upon hearing this, Seth stirred slightly, not creating enough noise for Katchei or any of the evil spirits to notice. However, he felt a great weight being lifted off of his being over Ephraim's death. Eirika had not lost her faith in Seth at all, which was good as the knight now had no worries about everything else he needed to tell Eirika.

As if to punctuate the point, Cormag elbowed Seth pretty softly, giving him a thumbs up sign with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, and you seriously believe you are one of those things he cares most about?" asked Katchei with a chuckle. "I envy your pride, woman. It is a thing that many such as myself lack, and yet it suits you all the less. Maybe I should take that pride out of you."

Katchei brought the staff down towards Eirika's being, that grin still plastered on his face. However, when the staff was brought up to Eirika's forehead, nothing happened. Katchei reeled back in shock, realizing something had gone very wrong.

"My power!" cried Katchei angrily, eyes flaring as he stood there. "Some of it is being stolen! Find the source, now!"

Ike decided that it was prime time to attack Katchei's forces, the mercenary grabbing Ragnell hard as he gave the order.

"Attack!"

Suddenly, from the foilage the soldiers burst forth, the hut on chicken's legs transforming back into its true form as the first of the spirits was destroyed with more of an earsplitting scream than anything. Ike ran straight for Katchei, Ragnell colliding with his staff as Joshua, Seth, Cormag, Maria, and Willie all went for the dragon guardians.

"You!" cried Katchei, sword and staff locked heatedly as the battle began to rage all about them. "You convinced Baba Yaga to come here!"

"Yeah," said Ike, straining against Katchei's push. "You went too far, Katchei! And now you're gonna pay for it!"

With this, Ike strained against Katchei, and after he had shoved the staff out of the way Ike leapt in the air, knowing fairly well that Ragnell would not leave a scratch on Katchei's body while the egg was still intact.

However, as his prediction came true, he knew that he also had to buy somebody time to destroy the egg, and so Ike jumped out of the way of a slash from the staff, and the two of them resumed battle.

* * *

Joshua, Seth, Cormag, Maria, Alyosha, and Willie all came forward, Lyon trailing just a little behind to give himself some distance from the two dragons that guarded the cave.

All of the battles had begun to spread themselves out a little, so then the two dragons both roared at their full temper and spewed a fountain of poison at the group. To dodge this, they all jumped in standard directions as the poison splashed and actually did not hit anybody.

Seeing this from within her hut, Baba Yaga gathered her arms as Vasilissa braced against the walls of the house.

No sooner had Baba Yaga casted the spell than suddenly, the poison that the dragons were spitting turned into pure water, and when the water quickly froze up outside of the hut. The friends fighting the dragon saw this, and they smirked at each other as the dragons were left to their claws and their jaws to fight.

Alyosha was the first of the people to strike against the dragons, swinging his axe in a wide arc only to be knocked to the side by the flat of the other dragon's paw. Lyon, seeing this, knew that one of the dragons had to be disabled first. The necromancer raised a hand high in the air, and then from nowhere a strange series of arcane symbols and dark balls of energy materialized around the yellow dragon. As the balls closed in on the dragon, it somehow managed to dodge the blow through some incomprehensible means, Lyon cursing under his breath.

However, the firebird had already begun chanting by this point, and right when Maria had jumped to the side to dodge the flames coming from the green dragon's nostrils and right when Joshua was about to run to the dragon, the firebird sang a quick song. Everybody fighting the dragons suddenly felt invigorated, and the group went at the dragons with new vigor in their souls.

Seth ran for the yellow dragon, but despite the invigoration his lance strike was still blocked, and he was knocked away by the green dragon's tail. Willie sent a fireball at the green dragon, only for it to bounce off of the yellow dragon's scales and for it to hit the green dragon on the rebound.

Taking advantage of the brief confusion between the dragons that resulted from this, Joshua dissapeared in a blur, and then strange illusions of him were seen all around the yellow dragon. The dragon, seeing this, moved to dodge, but it roared loudly as suddenly its tail fell off and Joshua reappeared in front of the group, Audhulma stained a deep green as similarly hued blood poured from the place where the tail had been attached.

Maria shook her head slowly, concentrating on the yellow dragon as she jabbed at it.

Lyon and Willie both took this time to cast spells at the yellow dragon, the familiar balls of fire and dark energy appearing again by the yellow dragon. This time, however, the balls of energy hit the target without reflecting, and the yellow dragon collapsed under the spells and the blood loss resulting from the loss of its tail, revealing a weak point at its chest.

Alyosha, who had gathered his strength again by that point, was about to deliver the finishing blow when the green dragon swatted him away with its tail, roaring in retaliation over its almost-defeated comerade.

Maria turned her attention to the green dragon, teeth barred as she barely managed to roll out of the way of a tail slam that the green dragon performed. She, Cormag, and Joshua then focused their attentions on the green dragon, the three of them trying to bait it with their attacks as Audhulma slowly drew blood from the dragon's paws.

While the three of them were concentrating on the green dragon, Seth walked towards the yellow dragon, angrily knowing what he had to do. Without another word, the knight raised his lance, and a second later the dragon let out an earsplitting scream as the lance was impaled into his heart.

The green dragon heard this, but he swatted his tail at Seth too late, and as the knight was sent flying the green dragon entered a kind of rage. The rage knocked Joshua and Cormag about, and it barely swatted Maria away as it thrashed around in its rage. However, in dodging, Maria tripped on a rock and fell down so that she could face the dragon. The dragon roared and opened its mouth wide, the mouth quickly descending on Maria.

However, Lyon and Willie were ready. Right as the dragon was about to eat the cat laguz, Willie sent a fireball at the creature, and then the ball of fire flew into its mouth. It did little in terms of damage, but it stalled the dragon long enough for Maria to get out of its jaws.

Lyon then raised his hands again, and the tell tale balls of dark energy hovered above the dragon before they sank down on it and caused enough damage for it to sway to and fro.

Wasting no time as he stood up, Joshua dissapeared once again, and then Audhulma sank straight into the heart of this dragon as well. The dragon suddenly lurched to the side, and then fell over so that it formed a perfect mirror in front of the mouth of the cave.

The group, panting and in pain, huddled in the battlefield as soldiers and spirits went at each other's throats around them. The firebird chirped sweetly, and then a blue aura surrounded the injured people. After it faded, they found they could stand up without any problems. With this solved, they turned to Lyon.

"Okay, so we can go now," said Lyon, watching as everybody panted heavily. "The egg is in there, I am sure of it."

"Then let's go!" said Maria, who was already running towards the cave.

Without hesitation, the rest of the group followed, dissapearing into the cave as the battle raged on.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ike battled Katchei in a very tiring fight for Ike.

At that stage of the duel, Katchei had not recieved a single scratch, due no doubt to his immortality. Ike has surprisingly few markings on himself, however, as he had been adept at dodging most of the lizardman's attacks.

The mercenary found himself dodging more magic attacks than he had bargained for, however. Despite the fact that Baba Yaga's presence was keeping Katchei's worst powers at bay, it did not diminish any of his more mild spells at all, and so Ike was having a hard time fighting against the sorceror anyway.

Ike had just dodged yet another thunder spell that saw it fit to attack the mercenary quite strongly. The mercenary jumped at Katchei yet again to find his strike bouncing off of Katchei's skin yet again. However, this was not a problem for Ike, and he jumped out of the way quickly as Katchei's staff hit the ground with a force that threw up most of the rocks surrounding the area. When the mercenary had jumped out of range of the shockwave, Katchei stood proudly, not giving any move to attack. Ike, knowing that an opening like this would be futile, simply stood there, panting from all of the energy it took.

"I shall give you credit, sir," said Katchei slyly. "I never expected you to do so well against me at all."

"I'm doing my best for everybody you've hurt!" cried Ike. "What you've done is unforgiveable!"

"Oh, is it?" asked Katchei, eyeing something that Ike could not see. "I beg to differ dear sir. And by the way, you might want to turn around now."

Ike did so, and then he found Vasilissa and the staff being carried by two rusalki right behind him.

"What in the?" asked Ike loudly, watching as Vasilissa was brought up to Katchei. "Where's Baba Yaga?"

"I don't know!" cried the young woman loudly. "But I didn't know they had such powers of taking her away!"

"Ah, never you fear, madam," said Katchei cooly. "She is safe in the woodwork of her cottage. She can still block my magic, but now she can do nothing to attack me directly."

"You bastard!" cried Ike. "I'll kill you!"

"And exactly how do you plan on doing that?" asked Katchei. "No doubt, Baba Yaga has told you about the egg, and you cannot go without me risking the ceremony, hm?"

Vasilissa and the staff were roughly shoved forwards, Vasilissa falling to her feet as Katchei caught the staff.

"And now, you shall witness the power of Latona herself!" cried Katchei.

The lizardman raised the staff high in the air, and then he screamed a chant out to the heavens, the staff being dropped onto the ground as it then began to glow. Katchei laughed maniacally as the maidens and Ike all gasped at this development.

The staff turned into the woman exactly as Ike had seen it in the dream; the light shone brilliantly from her body, hair and eyes both a silvery white as she materialized.

As silvery clothes appeared on the woman's being and the light faded, she gazed around her, Katchei looking at her gleefully.

"Who... woke me...?" asked the woman, voice seeming a little strange from what must have been hundreds of years of not speaking.

"It was I, the great Katchei of Grado," said the lizardman loudly. "And you shall grant me my wish, dearest Latona!"

The woman looked over to the ladies, looking at them intently.

However, she started when her eyes fell upon Fiordiligi's body, which was still in a solidified stone. She stood up abruptly and pointed at Fiordiligi.

"Who did this to her?" asked the woman angrily, silver eyes shining in anger. "Who turned one of the thirteen into stone?"

"It was Katchei!" cried Ike, pointing an accusatory finger. "He also kidnapped all of these ladies so you would certainly grant his wish to rule all of Magvel!"

"What?" cried Latona, spinning around and looking at a now somewhat disturbed Katchei angrily. "You did this to them?"

"W-what are you talking about?" asked the lizardman. "Of course I did not!"

"Oh, really?" asked Latona, looking around her and seeing the foilage. "I do not remember a garden being in this part of Grado. Explain."

"It's all him!" cried Eirika angrily. "He destroyed Grado with fire and brimstone and replaced it all with this garden you see here!"

"And he turned Fiordiligi inta stone!" cried Mia angrily. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Blasphemy!" cried Latona, turning on a now frightened Katchei. "You impudent rascal! You thought you could cause so much pain and expect to get your wish granted by I, the great saint Latona?"

"B-but..." stammered Katchei, eyes wide with fear as Ike eyed him agrily.

"No!" cried Latona. "You shall gain no such wishes! Not while I am the guardian of all of Magvel!"

The woman then abruptly turned her back on Katchei and walked to Ike, who was smirking now while holding Ragnell. Slowly, Latona approached Ike, tapping him on the shoulder.

Almost immediately, Ike felt himself regenerated, and then his wounds dissapeared quickly. Surprised, the mercenary looked to the woman who frowned at Katchei angrily.

Katchei's shock slowly degenerated into growling, and then finally he let out an angered roar.

"Fool!" cried the lizardman loudly. "You think you can take away my dreams like that?"

"You took away so many others!" replied Ike in kind. "You had it coming!"

"Why, you--!" bellowed the lizardman loudly.

With little other warning, the lizardman flew right at Ike, and then a swipe of the staff knocked him against a tree, where Ike then barely had time to fall to the base of it before Katchei gripped him by the cuff of his shirt and flung him to the ground. A great pain rose in the mercenary's shoulder as he found himself get picked up by the leg and slammed roughly against the ground so that he faced the earth again. Then, the enraged lizardman picked Ike up again and swung him around and around so that finally Ike felt himself hit a tree head-on. As most of the bones in his body cracked sickeningly, he fell to the floor, Ragnell quite a distance away from him.

Before anything else was said, however, Latona was already by Ike's side, and her touch was enough to heal him of his grievous wounds quickly. The mercenary then stood up quickly, dashing straight to where Ragnell was, hoping that Katchei would not pull any tricks up his sleeve.

Unfortunately for the mercenary, the lizardman's rage was not easily quelled. Ike had no sooner gotten Ragnell then he felt himself frozen into place by magic. Just as quickly, he found himself slamming into the ground repeatedly by none of his own accord.

When Ike was finally released from this hold, he hissed in pain as Katchei walked up to him quickly. However, Latona reached him first, and with another touch the mercenary was healed quickly, but not as well as before.

As Ike stood up, he barely managed to dodge a fire spell that Katchei had sent at him, and then Ike barely had time to dodge before suddenly, a huge thunderbolt came down from the heavens and shocked the mercenary so that he was barely able to move.

And before Latona could run to Ike's aid, Katchei quickly held his had out to her, and then Latona was mysteriously kept at bay by an unknown force. Smirking, Katchei advanced towards Ike, cackling madly as the women struggled against their bonds and as Vasilissa struggled against a rusalka that was holding her down to the ground, the lot of them unable to help Ike.

* * *

Maria was the first in the cave despite the fact that her night vision was failing her greatly, with Willie right behind her with a fireball. As she wondered down the damp, dark walls of the cave, she could not help but feel that she now knew what a beorc must feel like when trapped in a desolate place so far away from home. The feeling was frightening, but Maria pressed on anyways knowing somehow that Ike's fate was in the balance.

The group continued on in the subterranean environment, Seth, Cormag, Joshua, Lyon, and Alyosha all trailing behind the cat and the Cockney boy slowly but surely as they descended into the keep.

Willie, on whom the firebird had taken a perch when they had entered the cave, chirped softly to make sure that it was there, standing on Willie's head with the tail feathers making the string for Willie's eyepatch incredibly uncomfortable. Everybody else gazed around them, somewhat wondering when they would hit the bottom.

Finally, however, as they trekked down Maria faintly made out a light from a lower level in the cave which shone brilliantly. Edging forwards just a little bit faster, she found herself looking down at a brilliantly glowing egg from way down below them.

"Hey, guys, here it is!" cried Maria, motioning the rest of the group over to where she was.

The group ran forward ever so slowly, and as soon as they were within viewing distance of the egg, they marveled at it. Willie was about to destroy his fireball when the firebird chirped negatively.

"So?" asked Joshua. "Let's destroy it!"

The firebird chirped at this, and Willie snapped to form as they climbed down the rock faces to the egg.

"'E says dat we cain't never do dat," said Willie. "'E says 'e gotta... sebdey... subdo..."

"Subdue it first?" asked Lyon.

"Dat be roight, Governor," replied Willie with a shrug.

"Well, then, let us sit for a while," said Alyosha, sitting on the ground as the firebird began to chant a sweet, almost longing tune.

The tune was very subversive to the group, such that they all began to feel just a little tired. Joshua, however, knowing what was coming, was constantly slapping himself lightly in the face to keep himself awake so that somebody could destroy the egg. The tune went on for quite a while, and slowly, the light on the egg dimmed. However, this had a reverse effect, as Willie himself slowly fell asleep from a mix of overworking and the firebird's song. With his falling sound asleep, his fireball vanished.

The egg was just a dim glow in the cave when the firebird finished its song, and Joshua looked at it determinedly as he nodded.

_Here goes..._ he thought to himself as Alyosha, Seth, Cormag, and Maria all walked over and grabbed Audhulma's hilt.

And almost in unspoken synchronization, the five of them raised Audhulma in the air, and when they brought it down on the egg a dull crack shattered the relative silence.

After they brought the blade down on the dimming egg repeatedly, all they were able to see was the firebird as it too glowed dimly in the darkness of the cave.

* * *

Katchei brought his hand up right when he had approached Ike, the mercenary panting hard as he waited for the end to come.

The lizardman, who had been intending to cast a spell that would have killed Ike, was surprised when suddenly he found that he could not conjure the thing he had wanted to conjure up at all. Even more to his shock was when his hold on Latona simply vanished, and the woman ran to Ike unhindered.

It wasn't until Baba Yaga and Kuranga appeared out of nowhere just a short distance away from them that he realized that somebody had found the egg and broken it.

Dropping his staff as it disintegrated into dust before everybody's eyes, Katchei stepped back with a shocked expression on his face. Latona healed Ike quickly, and then the mercenary stood up and pointed Ragnell at the lizardman.

"So, you thought you could, huh?" asked Ike. "Now that you can't do anything about it, we'll get this over with now!"

"N...no..." said Katchei. "I was supposed to be indestructible!"

Before Katchei was fully able to turn around and flee, Ike had already dashed at the man with incredible agility. With even more remarkable speed, Ike plunged the sword deep into Katchei's stomach.

The lizardman choked on blood quite suddenly, and then Ike forced Ragnell as far into it as he could. When he saw Katchei slowly lean over and as the blood ran down Katchei's mouth, the mercenary slid the blade out of Katchei, the wizard falling dead on the ground and twitching a little in its death throes.

As Ike exhaled and inhaled deeply, the spirits around him dissolved without a sound, and then the bindings on which the maidens were kept suddenly disintegrated.

What happened next was strange in a way that everybody understood why it happened but were still dazzled when it happened; the landscape around them suddenly became dark. As complete silence reigned supreme, Ike was barely able to make out the forms of his friends exiting a nearby cave with the firebird on Willie's shoulder. And then, the landscape around them turned bright again, and they found that Katchei's magic garden had been replaced with the scenery that was Grado.

Slowly, then, people came forward from the surprisingly empty scenery all around them, and Fiordiligi suddenly inhaled as she turned back into flesh and blood instantaneously. The other maidens helped her to her feet, and by that time the group that had entered the cave had come up to them rather quickly.

"Natasha!" cried Joshua excitedly as he embraced his wife. "You're okay!"

"Joshua, even after all this time, you're still here to make me happy," said the blonde, the redheaded man pulling her into a hug as he smiled to himself.

"Ike!" cried Maria as she jumped onto the mercenary excitedly. "We did it! We killed Katchei!"

"I know!" said the mercenary as Maria ruffled his hair happily. "It's finally over..."

Willie, meanwhile, was practically on top of Fiordiligi, hugging her tight so that she was almost out of breath for quite some time. The Cockney boy's excitement was evident in the strength of his embrace, but Fiordiligi did not seem to mind the tight embrace.

Eirika had walked over to Seth, who looked down at the ground gloomily as he thought about Ephraim.

"Seth..." said Eirika.

"I'm sorry, Eirika," replied the Silver Knight. "I wish I could have saved him..."

"Seth, I know there was nothing you could have done, even if you had stayed," said Eirika, pulling the knight into a hug. "Just, please, stay with me. Promise me you won't leave me alone..."

The knight nodded sullenly, and then he placed a hand on Eirika's hair, petting it softly as he bent down to kiss her tenderly.

The group suddenly came to their senses, and they looked at each other briefly even when Eirika and Seth were still locked in their tender embrace. Willie abruptly let go of Fiordiligi, the happiness in his being apparent.

"Well, blokes?" asked Willie. "We did it! And now we won't 'ave none ef dese peeple 'angin' around 'ere no more, we won't!"

"Yeah!" cried Maria, as suddenly everybody around them erupted in a loud cheer.

A general rejoicing followed, where many people shared friendly embraces and all but a few were sullen at the spirits finally having been destroyed.

In the midst of the celebrations, Lyon leaned against a tree, Baba Yaga standing close to him.

"So, my homeland is finally free..." said the prince of Grado. "I am not ready to rule..."

"Nonsense," replied Baba Yaga, a smile lingering on her lips. "Your heart is in the right place; it is a matter of having the people to tell you what they feel is right so that your people can be comfortable."

"That could be easier said than done," replied Lyon with a nod. "I remember when my father died that I was lost for so long. Now I feel lost again..."

"Now, now, child, don't you worry at all," said Baba Yaga. "I shall make sure you do a good job of leading your country! And to that end, I am going to stay in Grado to guide you!"

"W-what?" asked Lyon. "But you are being far too kind, my dear Baba Yaga."

"It is just another task I have to do for you," said the witch as she looked to her hut. "And in the end, it will be for the best, I am certain."

Lyon pondered on Baba Yaga's words for a second, and then he nodded.

The celebrations consisted mostly of people jumping around jovially and shouting at the top of their lungs.

Accompanying this was the warm embrace of Eirika and Seth, the smiles of Willie and Fiordiligi, and the strength of character embodied by Maria and Ike as the mercenary held the woman he loved by the waist and the two of them jumped up, almost as if they were joined together in body and spirit.


	18. Chapter 18: Farewells

Okay, so Katchei battle is done. Now, we need a chapter to wrap things up, end a few plot threads, and send Ike and co. on their way.

So let's get to it!

* * *

**_Ike, with the help of his friends, finally manages to kill Katchei the Immortal. Now, all that is left is for all to return home._**

**_Just after the fight, Kuranga, seeing the error of his ways, apologizes to Maria and Ike personally and with all of the sadness that was hidden away in his figure until the fight with Katchei. Seeing the sincerity in Kuranga's apology, the two of them accept it, and all three of them move on from the incident that caused quite a bit of scandal between Maria and Ike._**

**_Ike tags along with queen Eirika as she goes back to Renais. On the way there, Seth proposes marriage to the now queen of Renais, and she accepted heartily._**

**_With the wedding only a week away, Ike and company decide to stay for that. Afterwards, they knew they had to ask somebody for a mode of transportation. _****_However, until then, they could revel in the fact that Eirika and Seth would both be happy with each other, and so they sit in at their wedding._**

Chapter 18: Farewells

The wedding celebrations had been going at full force for almost the entire evening. Ike and his friends were all merry at the reception that was held afterwards, with Seth and Eirika standing by to greet guests as he had a very good time with Cormag, Lyon, Tana, Joshua, Natasha, and his friends from Greljedo. Even Kuranga was sitting at their table, even though he remained silent.

The lot of them had sat in a circle around a table that Willie had called before anything else was happening. And then, they went absolutely crazy, the lot of them talking it up as if they were in a tavern and were having drinking games quite happily.

"And then, I tossed the coin, and it was heads!" said Joshua quite happily in talking about how he first met Natasha. "That started all of this great stuff with her; I don't think I'll ever regret losing that toss at all!"

"I wouldn't never dink so, Governor," replied Willie heartily. "She be a good mu'um!"

"Indeed," said Lyon with a nod. "I do have to ask you, Ike; how do plan on getting off of here?"

"We already talked to Baba Yaga about it," replied the mercenary. "She's building us a boat out of all of the timbers around her house as we speak."

"I am not looking forward to that voyage..." replied Kuranga, still staring at the floor.

"Aw, come on!" cried Tana cheerfully. "It's not like anything bad will happen, right?"

"But I sense a terrible aura from doing this..." replied the dragon.

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Maria. "It's not like I'm going to try to kill you!"

"I guess you're right..." replied Kuranga, with everybody giving him a puzzled look.

"I cain't believe dey killed Bonnie..." said Willie, all of a sudden quite somber as he looked on. "And I cain't believe dat foirebird went wiv Alyoja and dat over girl..."

"Aw, he's still somber about that linnet bird?" asked Cormag.

"Hey!" snapped Fiordiligi. "That linnet bird was his only companion for years! Respect that, damn it!"

"Hm," chuckled Joshua ironically. "He's rubbing off onto you."

"What are you saying?" asked the lady, shooting a glance at the king of Jehanna.

"He seems to be influencing your behavior quite a bit," added Natasha. "If not for the accent, I would not recognize you two!"

"Well, Fiordiligi's always been pretty headstrong," replied Maria with a shrug. "I guess it was only a time before her speech got less formal."

"Hey!" replied Fiordiligi heatedly.

The whole group erupted into a fit of giggles, and as Fiordiligi pretended to pout Kuranga sighed heartily and looked towards Cormag

"Oh dear..." he said briefly. "Anyways, Cormag, have you finally made up your mind about Tana?"

"Yes," replied the wyvern knight, blushing just a little as he stared at Tana.

Everybody laughed heartily at this rare moment of distraction with Cormag, and then Joshua, the person closest to him, patted him on the back.

"Naw, it's cool man," replied the king of Jehanna quite heartily. "We understand."

"What if Innes doesn't understand?" asked Cormag.

"I'm sure he will," replied Fiordiligi. "He seems like a perfectly sensible fellow to me."

"He's quite vain, actually," said Tana as she twirled some of her hair in her fingers. "But that's just me. Has anybody found Gaston around here?"

Ike shook his head softly as Maria looked down at the ground.

"No," said the mercenary. "They still haven't found him..."

"Chances are, they will not," replied Kuranga. "But in the future, he will come back to you on his own."

"Oh, so he'll find us?" asked Maria, her expression lightening up a little.

"Not for a long time," replied Kuranga. "But he will in the future, that is for sure."

"All right then," said Lyon with a nod. "Good to hear that. Good also that Eirika and Seth are happy for each other..."

"No hard feelings, then?" asked Joshua.

"W-what are you talking about?" asked the prince, suddenly quite alarmed at this comment.

"You said you loved her when you died," replied the king of Jehanna. "Don't think I didn't hear a thing you said at Darkling Woods."

"Those feelings have since faded," replied the prince softly. "Now there is nothing left but for me to rule my country alone..."

"Aw, don't yeh say dat, Governor!" cried Willie. "At least yer 'ome is back!"

"Very true," said Lyon as he nodded at Willie's good humor. "I'll remember you for sure for being so cheerful all the time."

"Of course. So, when you people leave, we are going to say goodbye, right?" asked Natasha.

"Of course," said Ike. "We'll be off in a few days. You can follow us to north-eastern Rausten if you want."

"That's good, yes," said Lyon. "Will Alyosha and Vasilissa be there?"

"Unfortunately, no," replied Fiordiligi. "They returned to their village."

"It's sad, too," said Maria with a nod. "He was a nice guy..."

"I see..." said Cormag. "But we'll still be there!"

"I hope so," said Ike.

"We will," said Lyon. "Let's give Eirika and Seth our best wishes!"

"I thought we already did?" asked Fiordiligi calmly.

"We did," said the prince. "But I would like to talk with them more."

"Fair enough," replied Kuranga, as everybody stood up relatively quickly.

And then the group walked over to where Eirika and Seth were standing, all of them smiling broadly during the happy occasion.

* * *

A week later, Ike, Maria, Fiordiligi, Willie, and Kuranga all stood in front of the wonder that Baba Yaga had constructed.

In the water in front of them was a large boat that was perfectly shaped and made entirely of the finest wood. To say it was a boat would have been an understatement; an ark was what stood in front of them, and it towered majestcally over the mainland as the five of them looked on. Eirika, Seth, Lyon, Joshua, Natasha, Cormag, Tana, and Latona who stood just behind them, also marvelled in its sheer size.

"Wow..." said Ike in amazement.

"Exactly how much wood did it take to make this thing?" asked an astouded Eirika.

"All of the wood around my house," replied Baba Yaga simply as she watched the others admire her handiwork.

"I did not think you would go to such an extreme as this..." said Natasha.

"They deserve it," replied the old witch with a beaming smile. "They saved all of Magvel from a grave danger..."

"That's true, but seriously, why so large?" asked Joshua.

"Again, they deserve it," replied the old woman simply.

"I'm not sure I trust your judgement here," replied Fiordiligi. "But whatever."

Ike simply looked at the arc and then shrugged.

"I wonder why we would want something that big..." added Maria warily.

"Eh, it be fer us, so we kin live wiv it, ya?" asked Willie.

"I guess..." said Kuranga.

"Still, it is excessively large," replied Lyon.

"Well what do you expect for heroes?" asked Baba Yaga angrily. "A skiff? Heavens, that would be a disgrace for all they have done!"

"Well, if you say so..." said Tana with a shrug.

Ike turned to look at his friends from Magvel again, the rest of his group doing so and the five of them walking over there as well.

"I guess this is goodbye," said Eirika with a nod.

"It is," said Ike.

"Ike," said Eirika with a bow. "Thank you so much for what you've done for Magvel. I wish I would be able to repay you in kind."

"Don't worry about it," replied the mercenary with a wave of his hand.

"Well, if you guys just happen to come around here again, we'll be sure to let you guys stay!" said Joshua with a friendly quality to his voice.

"And I'll make sure Innes talks to you guys," said Tana.

"All right," said Kuranga with a respectful bow to the group of people from Magvel. "May the goddess Sharotal favor you in whatever troubles you face."

"And may your goddess be with you," said Latona with a nod.

"Thank you," said Fiordiligi.

"So, this is it then," said Cormag. "I'll miss you guys."

"We'll miss you guys!" replied Maria energetically. "I mean, we've spent a lot of time here, we've had a lot of great times, and you've all been great!"

"Once again, if you should decide to grace us with your presence once again, you are always welcome here," said Seth. "Thank you all."

The group nodded quickly, and they made to turn around to the ark to leave when they were stopped.

"Oh, and Maria?" asked Seth.

The cat laguz halted in her tracks and looked to Seth.

"Thanks," said the silver knight. "Thanks for giving me the courage to stand up to my fears."

"No problem," replied Maria with a bow. "And thank you for all those lance lessons! I'll use your teachings well!"

Seth nodded as the group turned around and headed to the ark. Ike looked at Baba Yaga with a determined set on his face, and then the five of them boarded the arc, the gangway disintegrating behind them as they boarded the ship.

No sooner did they get on the ship than the boat began to sail in a magically inclined direction. The group of five quickly ran over to the back of the ship, waving at the group of people that had come to see them off on their next adventure.

Happily, the eight people from Magvel waved their hands at the departing group, and as the ark sailed off into the distance all was well on the continent of Magvel.


	19. Epilogue: Strange Occurrences

Oh, boy. Almost done with this book of the epic. So you know the drill;

So, the guys go off into the sunset and head off to their next adventure without event...

...or do they?

**_I THINK NOT!_**

* * *

Epilogue: Strange Occurrences

Willie was the first person who noticed the boat was slowly veering away from its course. As he stood on the deck with the other four people he had come to know almost too well on these adventures, he felt the disturbance quite rudely, and then he looked at Kuranga. It was the first time that the Cockney boy had torn his eye from the vast expanse of the ocean in the middle of the very cloudy day, so the dragon knew something was serious.

"D'ye feel dat?" asked Willie.

"The ship moving?" asked Kuranga. "I believe we are started towards my premonition..."

Fiordiligi, who had been walking by the two of them by sheer coincidence, suddenly felt the ship get violently steered away from her direction, and then Ike and Maria both looked to the three huddled on the other side of the boat. Quickly, the mercenary ran over to them, Maria following along a little slower with her growing belly showing the reason why she was slower than usual.

"What's going on?" asked Ike. "Baba Yaga's course was unchangeable!"

"This is strange..." said Fiordiligi as she looked around in the vast expanse of the ocean. "I feel so eerie about all of this..."

As if to accentuate this eerieness, the boat suddenly stopped in its tracks, Maria and Ike both walking along to the edge of the boat.

"Strange," said Maria. "Wasn't this thing supposed to be nonstop?"

"Somebody's tampering with Baba Yaga's magic," replied Kuranga as Fiordiligi and Willie all walked over there. "I know this now."

"And what's going to happen next?" asked Ike stoically.

The dragon was unable to finish this sentence, for then, out of the water dove a mysterious blue hand of pure energy. Before anybody could say another word, this energy clasped down on the boat, effectively shattering it and causing it to break. Everybody who was caught in between the fingers of the massive hand of energy was suddenly jolted, and Kuranga and Willie were both able to cling to the sides of the now rapidly sinking boat. Ike, Fiordiligi, and Maria were nowhere to be seen, but this was of little importance as the two of them suddenly found the boat rapidly sinking.

In a matter of minutes, the ark of Baba Yaga had sunk into the ocean, with Willie and Kuranga both sputtering on the surface of the ocean as they held on fast to one of the thousands of broken planks that were now bobbing on the surface of the water. Frantically, the two of them looked around for any sign of Fiordiligi, Maria, or Ike that they could fathom. However, they were met with little success, even with their frantic looking.

"Oh, no..." said Kuranga worriedly. "Maria! Ike!"

"Viordilegi!" cried Willie loudly, the sting of salt water in his eye socket hurting him more than anything and the hole in his heart that was there in worry over Fiordiligi. "Were are yeh?"

The two of them screamed, but the other three people were nowhere to be seen or heard.

Kuranga and Willie were lost at sea, with no other companionship but themselves and their best friends assumedly at the bottom of the ocean, dead.

* * *

**_Coming up..._**

**_Thrust into a world of strange sights and other people, Ike, Maria, and Fiordiligi find themselves separated from Willie and Kuranga in a world unlike any they have ever seen. In the midst of this terrifying dilemma, another, more fatal disturbance lies in wait for our heroes, waiting for the perfect time to strike and end humanity itself. It is this challenge that Ike must face up to, and it will be one of his most difficult challenges yet..._**

**Book 3: In the Land of the Dead**

* * *

A/N: So, that's the end of that. Ike, Maria, and Fiordiligi are somewhere now. But where?

And yeah, they literally will be separated, so Willie and Kuranga will be taking a sabbatical for the next book of the epic. Oh noes!

But you can be assured that the next book is gonna be full of epic win! So stay tuned for that, and let me know what else comes to mind!

-Herr Wozzeck


End file.
